“Your mother is welcome here, Noah. I’ve always wanted you to feel comfortable having everyone who loves you in your life.”
He nodded.
“Then why was Dad mad?”
“That’s something Dad and I need to discuss.”
He looked relieved that I hadn’t asked him to explain.
Then he pointed toward the cake.
“Can we have that now?”
I smiled.
“Absolutely.”
We carried the cake into the dining room together.
Everyone sang.
Ethan blew out forty-three candles while Vanessa held up her phone to record him.
Noah laughed because his father needed two attempts to extinguish the final candle.
For a few minutes, the evening looked exactly like the one I’d planned.
Then Ethan cut the first slice.
He placed it on Vanessa’s plate.
“Your favorite corner piece,” he said.
I looked at him.
Vanessa smiled.
“You remembered.”
I stood there holding the cake server.
For years, I’d been the person who remembered Ethan’s birthday traditions.
But recently, I’d begun noticing how many little preferences he’d apparently been learning about his ex-wife again.
I served the remaining guests.
When everyone had cake, I checked my phone.
A message from David.
I’m outside. I don’t want to walk in unexpectedly if Noah is still at the table.
I glanced toward the dining room.
Noah had finished his cake and was asking his older cousin to help him with a new computer game upstairs.
I told him they could play for a while.
