I’d been used to women noticing Adrian. It had never bothered me before. But now, the comfort of that certainty was gone, and the absence of it lingered quietly in my chest.
Adrian didn’t respond beyond a neutral smile, already shifting his attention back to Haille as she toddled over and tugged at his pant leg.
“Daddy,” she called.
Adrian bent down toward her. “Yeah, bug?”
Haille held up a small car toy, proudly presenting it to him.
And as Adrian’s attention shifted fully to Haille, Beatrice drifted toward the kitchen island, reaching for a glass as if nothing had happened.
Jeremy watched her for a second, then gave a small shrug, completely unbothered. “She flirts with everyone,” he said, glancing back at me like it was nothing. “Don’t read into it.”
Astrid appeared beside him almost immediately. Her hand brushed lightly against Jeremy’s arm—subtle, but not entirely gentle.
“Come on, Elena, she said. “Make yourselves comfortable.”
—?—
Lunch was loud.
The kids were the loudest—Haille and Lucas especially, laughing, dropping food, talking over each other like volume was a competition. Oliver ate properly, sitting still, already resigned to being the mature one.
At some point, Beatrice leaned toward Adrian again.
“So, what do you do exactly?” she asked, twirling her fork absently.
“He works in construction,” Astrid answered before Adrian could. “Projects. Sites. Long hours.”
Adrian nodded. “Yeah. Pretty much.”
Beatrice tilted her head. “Sounds intense.”
“It is,” he said simply, already reaching for Haille’s napkin as she smeared sauce on her cheek.
I watched him clean her face and hands with practiced ease, his attention entirely on our daughter.
And I noticed it—how Beatrice noticed too.
After lunch, Jeremy leaned back in his chair. “Hey, man. I’ve been working on a new game. You should try it.”
Adrian laughed quietly. “Man, I barely have time to sleep.”
William snorted from across the table. “He’s not kidding. The game’s actually insane. I lost an entire day to it.”
Jeremy grinned. “See? We’ll set it up here later. Five minutes. You’ll survive.”
“Maybe,” Adrian said. “We’ll see.”
I looked around the table—children laughing, Astrid already talking about bringing out the banana bread pudding later, William refilling drinks, Jeremy relaxed, Beatrice watching a little too closely, which I tried to ignore.
But what surprised me was something else entirely.
I had missed this.
It felt good to sit there, surrounded by noise and easy conversation. For a moment, I let myself enjoy it—the familiarity, the laughter, the simple comfort of being here again.
—?—
