“I’m their father,” he said.

And Elena corrected him, gently, but with an absolute firmness that would set the terms of everything that followed.

“Biologically,” she said.

“The rest, you still have to earn.” And that single distinction became the entire architecture of Alex’s re-entry into his children’s lives.

He was not permitted to show up at their preschool.

He could not shower them with expensive gifts to buy their affection.

He could not use high-powered attorneys to force his way into a visitation schedule.