Millie, oblivious to the undercurrents, pushed her peas around her plate. She'd gone quieter since Victoria arrived, her earlier brightness dimming. A strong reminder of why this divorce needed to happen.
"Everything okay, pumpkin?"
She didn't look up. "Daddy... my school is having a winter recital. Next Thursday."
"That sounds wonderful."
"I'm singing a song with my class." Still not meeting my eyes. "Will you come?"
The hope in her voice was carefully muted, as if she was already preparing for disappointment.
Before I could answer, she added quietly, "I know you're busy."
The words landed like small, precise knives. She wasn't trying to wound me. It was simply a fact, as she perceived it. And she was right. The divorce proceedings, the constantmaneuvering with Victoria, the pressure at Sterling Tech, I'd missed her last parent-teacher conference. I'd been on a call during her soccer game. I was, in all the ways that mattered to a seven-year-old, always busy.
"Millie, I?—"
"I would love to come," Victoria interjected, her voice sugary. "I can record it on my phone. We'll make a whole event of it."
Millie looked at Victoria, and I watched something close behind my daughter's eyes. The eager hope faded into a polite blankness I'd seen too many times.
"Thank you, Aunt Victoria." Her voice was flat. "But Miss Claire knows about school stuff better."
The silence that followed was absolute.
Victoria's face underwent a rapid transformation: shock, then fury, then a tight, controlled smile that didn't reach her eyes. I saw Claire's slight wince, her attempt to smooth things over.
"I'm sure Mrs. Sterling would love to be there to support you, Millie," Claire said quickly. "And I'd be honored to come, if it's okay with your dad."
She'd handed the decision back to me. Giving me a chance to reclaim parental territory while defusing the bomb Millie had innocently detonated.
"Of course." My voice came out rough. "We'll all be there. I'll clear my schedule."
"Really?" Millie's face transformed, the hope returning full force. "You promise?"
"I promise."
The smile she gave me was worth every meeting I'd have to reschedule.
The rest of dinner passed in strained civility. Victoria picked at her food, her gaze alternating between Claire and me like apredator tracking prey. When Mrs. Lee cleared the plates, Claire rose.
"I should get going. Early morning tomorrow."
Millie's goodbye hug lasted thirty seconds. "Thank you for coming," she whispered against Claire's shoulder.
"Anytime, sweetheart."
I walked Claire to the door, the weight of Victoria's stare following us. Outside, the evening air was cool and clean.
"Thank you for tonight," I said. "And for... handling that gracefully."
"She's a wonderful girl, Nathaniel." Claire used my first name effortlessly for the first time. "She just needs to be seen."
She just needs to be seen.Wasn't that what I'd failed to do with Michaela? The parallel was too painful to examine.
"I'm trying," I said. "I'm not very good at it."
"You showed up tonight." Her smile was soft. "That's a start."
