Aura, their little girl, is running around the cafe, her dark brown curls bouncing, her giggles echoing off the walls. It wasn’t just Millie and Gabriel here, though.
Our family fills the space—Mom and Dad beaming with pride, Asher and Reuben tossing jokes across the room, Luciepeppering Millie with questions like she’s interviewing a celebrity. Cohen is bouncing around too, being Cohen.
He throws his arms dramatically around Millie. “Your baby’s already cooler than me, Auntie Mills. I bet it’s got a better playlist in the womb.”
I shoot him a look, trying to keep him behaved, but he just grins back at me. It’s moments like this—Cohen, all energy and mischief—that keeps everything light, reminding me how much he fills my life with happiness. But the warmth doesn’t erase the weight sitting in my chest.
Cohen returns to my side and climbs up onto my lap, resting his head on my shoulder. I wrap my arms around him automatically.
“You good, Mom?” he murmurs, only loud enough so I can hear it.
I nod. “I’m okay, lovebug.”
“You don’t look okay.”
I look down at him, his gray-blue eyes scanning my face. They’re so much like Cole’s. Too knowing.
“I just have a lot of adult stuff on my mind,” I say honestly. “But being with you makes it a lot better.”
He smiles, small and content, tucking himself closer to me. “I’m going to be with you forever, Mom. Even when I’m old and famous living in a treehouse mansion.”
I laugh softly. “A treehouse mansion?”
“With a hot tub. Duh.”
But the moment fades too fast. Cole is here. In this town. Breathing the same air. Walking the streets I know by heart. And every second I don’t tell him about Cohen feels like a countdown to something I can’t control.
“Kenna?” My mom’s voice cuts through my spiral. “You okay, sweetheart?”
I blink, a little disoriented. “Sorry, Mom. I’m just…thinking.”
She studies me, arms crossed loosely over her chest. “You’ve been doing a lot of that lately.”
“I guess I have.”
“What’s going on in that head of yours?” She asks gently, but there’s a firmness underneath. “And don’t say ‘nothing,’ because I know that look.”
I try to smile, but it doesn’t quite land. “It’s just hard. Everything is so complicated.”
She sits beside me, lowering her voice. “You’ve been carrying this secret around for years, sweetheart. It’s going to be complicated, but I will always be here for you.”
I glance over at Cohen, now yapping a mile a minute to Gabriel.
“I’m scared, Mom.”
She leans in slightly. “Of what?”
“Messing everything up. Of losing people I love. About causing pain to others.”
She gives me a look that says she doesn’t buy it, but thankfully Lucie distracts her with another pregnancy question. I take the chance to slip away. I need air. Space. Quiet.
I excuse myself quietly, standing up and making my way toward the back of the cafe. The quiet hum of the space feels suddenly too loud, too chaotic. I need a moment to breathe. To think. To sort through the storm of feelings that had been building inside me all day.
As I reach the hallway near the back door, I hear footsteps behind me. “Mom!”
I turn around to find Cohen trotting after me, his hair flopping over his forehead. He’s out of breath like he ran to catch up.
“Hey lovebug,” I say, crouching so we’re eye-level. “What’s up?”
