He thought about why she had needed to disappear.
The next morning, Claire sent him a message.
Only one sentence.
If you want to begin repairing this, meet me at Linden Café at ten. Come alone.
Mark arrived twenty minutes early.
Claire walked in exactly at ten.
She did not hug him.
She ordered coffee, sat across from him, and placed a folder on the table.
Mark stared at it.
“What is that?”
“A schedule.”
His pulse quickened.
“For the babies?”
Claire nodded.
“Emily is willing to let you meet your daughters.”
Mark’s eyes closed for one brief second.
“When?”
“Tomorrow.”
“Where?”
“I’ll tell you after we finish talking.”
He nodded quickly.
“Anything.”
Claire’s expression remained careful.
“Don’t say that unless you mean it.”
“I mean it.”
“She doesn’t want apologies that turn into arguments. She doesn’t want you showing up without permission. She doesn’t want you asking where she is staying.”
Mark opened his mouth.
Then closed it.
Claire noticed.
“That last one is going to be difficult for you.”
“She’s my wife.”
“She knows.”
“She just had major surgery.”
“She has help.”
“I should be helping.”
“Yes.”
The simplicity of Claire’s answer surprised him.
“Yes, Mark. You should have been.”
He looked down.
Claire slid the folder closer.
“Emily isn’t asking you to disappear. She wants the opposite. She wants you to show up.”
Mark opened the folder.
Inside was a list.
Pediatric follow-up times.
Feeding schedules.
Prescription pickups.
Insurance paperwork.
Hospital bills requiring calls.
Three pages of ordinary responsibilities.
Mark stared at them.
“This is what she wants?”
“This is where you start.”
He read the pages more carefully.
At the bottom of the final sheet, Emily had written something herself.
Please learn their routines before you ask them to fit into yours.
Mark ran his thumb across the sentence.
“When can I see them?”
Claire glanced at the clock.
“Tomorrow. Eleven.”
“Where?”
“At my house.”
Mark looked up.
“Emily’s with you?”
Claire’s expression revealed nothing.
“I said the babies will be there.”
He knew better than to press.
