Then Ava’s.

Then Lily’s.

Three small hands, warm in mine, holding on.

And we walked together toward the exit — a woman in a wedding dress and three children in their good clothes, leaving a wedding that had turned out not to be one.

I did not look back at Nathan.

I had looked at him enough for one lifetime.

Ben looked up at me as we reached the doors, his face working through something too big for him, and he asked the question that pulled the whole day, at last, back into its proper size.

“Mom?”