"ERS," I say. "They're asking if we want to dissolve the contract."
She doesn't even look back at the screen. "No. Tell them we are planning a Vow Renewal in April. I've already picked out my dress."
Evelyn hears it. "Very well," she says. "I'll mark the case as resolved."
The call ends. The game ends shortly after, Henry victorious and smug.
Lindsay stretches and bumps her shoulder into mine as she stands. Casual. Certain.
Henry announces he's hungry. Of course he is.
I remain where I am for a moment longer, watching them move through the room like this has always been the shape of things. No strategy. Just presence. Choice.
For years, I believed love was a liability. Now, listening to the easy sound of a life finally being lived, I understand the truth I missed.
Love isn't the risk.
Living without it was.
I thought the ideal was the absence of disruption. Structure without variation.
But stability isn't about control.
It's about trust.
My phone buzzes. A calendar notification. Board meeting in an hour. Quarterly projections. Acquisition discussions. The kind of controlled environment where I've always thrived.
I dismiss it without looking.
I don't have anything pressing for the rest of the day. Work can wait.
This moment, this life, this unexpected gift cannot wait.
I step into the kitchen, into their orbit, and the space expands to include me without hesitation. Lindsay hands me a piece of toast without being asked. Henry shows me something on hisphone that makes absolutely no sense to me but clearly matters to him.
I listen. I nod. I engage.
Not because I should.
Because I want to.
This is the life I never knew to build, where efficiency takes a back seat to presence. Where control gives way to connection.
Where love isn't measured by what it provides but by how fully it's given.
Lindsay catches my eye across the counter and smiles. Like she can read my thoughts. Like she's always been able to.
And maybe she has.
Maybe that's the point.
Maybe love isn't about finding someone who fits into your life.
It's about building a life that fits you both.
