I had started keeping a private notebook, partly because the counselor suggested writing down how I felt rather than trying to resolve every worry immediately.

On one page I listed the ways Lucas had changed.

On the next I listed the concerns that hadn’t disappeared.

He was more attentive to Paisley, but he still sometimes waited too long to answer direct questions about finances.

He respected visiting times, but he occasionally framed his new behavior as something I should reward.

The notebook wasn’t a scorecard.

It reminded me that one good day couldn’t erase a harmful pattern, and one hard conversation didn’t cancel every step forward.