“All right.”
I stood.
There was still a kitchen full of dishes downstairs.
For a moment, I almost asked Ethan whether he wanted help clearing them.
Then I stopped.
“I need you to clean up the birthday dinner,” I said.
He looked toward the door.
“All of it?”
“Yes.”
He nodded.
“Of course.”
I went upstairs to check on Noah.
He was asleep on the sofa in the den, with a game controller resting beside him.
I covered him with a blanket.
Then I turned off the television.
Over the next several weeks, Ethan and I lived apart.
He stayed with a friend while I remained in our house long enough to organize my belongings and make practical arrangements.
He took responsibility for Noah’s school transportation, appointments, and daily routines instead of assuming I would handle them.
Vanessa and David separated as well.
David told me once, when we spoke about what Noah might hear, that he was staying elsewhere while they considered their marriage. He didn’t ask me to help investigate Vanessa or choose what he should do.
We had both learned enough.
Ethan began individual counseling and asked whether I would eventually consider attending marriage counseling with him.
I told him I wasn’t ready.
He didn’t argue.
A few days later, he came over to collect Noah’s sports equipment.
Before leaving, he stood in the hallway.
“Claire, I keep thinking about what I said at my birthday dinner.”
I looked at him.
“Which part?”
“When I told you to stop competing with Vanessa.”
