The realization made me feel like I’d failed. I felt like I had fallen to the lowest version of myself.
She leaned forward. “My name is Sydnee Rose Stallard,” she said. “I’m a therapist at my practice, Reframing Realities. We focus on self-discovery and also marriage work.”
Her voice was calm and genuine like she actually enjoyed her work.
“I know there’s a stigma around therapy,” she said, looking at us both, “but I want you both to know I’m not a therapist with a perfect story. I’ve lived through marriage, infidelity, grief,abandonment, rebuilding… new love. All of it. So when I speak, I’m speaking from experience just as much as education.”
My chest loosened just a little. I told myself maybe she understood broken things.
“I normally don’t do same-day house calls,” she added with a small laugh. “But Coffee sends clients to me all the time virtually, and anything for a friend that keeps my business flourishing. I’m a mom of two, so I needed the little road trip for my mental anyway.”
Ok, so she’s a mom. Another good sign.
It didn’t surprise me that Coffee set everything up. She always moved mountains when she decided something mattered.
“I’ve worked with marriages for over thirteen years,” Sydnee continued. “It’s my foundation, even though I stepped away from full-time couples work for a while.”
She looked between us.
“I want you both to understand something. You don’t need to be nervous and you don’t need to hide anything. This is where repair begins…. If it doesn’t start here… it usually ends wherever it stops functioning properly.”
She was right. We were sitting at a crossroads neither of us ever imagined reaching.
She smiled again, trying to lighten the heaviness in the room. “Coffee told me you two have been together since your teenage years.”
Kairo nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”
She leaned back, impressed. “Do you know how rare that is? To actually grow up with someone… build life together from that young and still be sitting beside each other as adults?”
Her eyes scanned our home. “And by the looks of it,” she added, “you two have created something beautiful together.”
Kairo let out a dry laugh. “Yeah,” he said. “That’s the problem.”
My head snapped toward him.Huh?Sydnee crossed her legs slowly, clearly intrigued rather than alarmed.
“Hm,” she said gently. “Do you care to unpack that?”
Kairo leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees.
For a moment, he just stared at the floor.
And I realized something terrifying.
I had no idea what he was about to say.
Not anymore.
The man I once knew without words now felt unpredictable… unfamiliar… distant.
He exhaled deeply.
“We built a perfect life,” he said quietly. “A perfect image. Perfect house. Perfect kid. Perfect success.”
He paused.
“But somewhere along the way… we stopped being perfect for each other.”
Sydnee nodded slowly. “That’s very honest,” she said. “Khloe… how does it feel hearing him say that?”
