He smiled before remembering how far apart they had become.
That night, Lily asked whether she was allowed to miss Mommy while she was with Daddy.
Grant told her she was allowed to miss anyone she loved.
“Even if you’re sad?” she asked.
“Especially then,” he replied.
He offered to call Melissa, and Lily accepted.
They spoke for ten minutes about spelling words and a lost mitten.
Afterward, Lily seemed calmer.
Grant stood in the hallway and wondered why adults made love so complicated when children could express it so plainly.
He sent Melissa a message thanking her for taking the call.
She replied that she appreciated him asking.
Neither mentioned the surrogacy agreement.
For that one evening, they had found a way to do something good without deciding who was right.
Chapter 13: The Suitcase
Grant moved into a two-bedroom apartment twelve minutes from the family house.
He chose it because the children could remain at their school and because the bus stop stood directly outside the building.
The first night, Lily asked why her pajamas smelled like a different laundry detergent.
Grant told her that homes could change without changing how much people were loved.
She nodded and asked where he would keep the Christmas decorations.
The question nearly undid him.
He shared parenting time with Melissa under a temporary schedule they had agreed to in writing.
They exchanged messages about homework, pickups, and whether Noah needed a new pair of sneakers.
Grant resisted the temptation to turn those exchanges into arguments about Charles.
Melissa’s first attempts at treatment did not proceed on the timetable she had expected.
Appointments moved, medication schedules changed, and the emotional effort wore her down.
She asked Grant to trade one weekend because she felt unwell.
He agreed without making a point of it.
At the pickup, Melissa stood on the porch in an oversized sweater and avoided his eyes.
“Thank you,” she said.
“You can ask when you need help with the kids,” he replied.
“I know.”
He wanted to ask whether she was having second thoughts.
Instead, he buckled Ben into his car seat and drove away.
At the grocery store, he found himself reaching for Melissa’s favorite cereal before remembering she did not live with him.
He returned it to the shelf.
His colleague Eric listened over lunch while Grant described the silence of his apartment.
“You can be right about a boundary and still grieve what it costs,” Eric said.
