I didn’t try to make the moment easier for him.

I had spent years softening every difficult exchange before he had to face it.

That habit had cost me more than I realized.

The fact that he could name his mistake mattered, but it did not require me to revise our history.

Selena came downstairs carrying a shoebox tied with a blue ribbon.

Inside were certificates from elementary school, a small robot made of cardboard, and a photograph of the three of us standing on a beach during a vacation when she was little.

“I want to take these with me,” she said.