He nods. “Yeah.”
“He’s umm… becoming a bigger part of our lives.”
He goes quiet. Really quiet. And I feel that shift straight away.
“How do you feel about that?” I ask gently.
He shrugs. “I like him. He’s cool. Especially because he’s Isla’s dad. She’s cool too.”
Relief settles, but I don’t let it end there.
“And you can tell me if you don’t like it.” I add.
“I do,” he says quickly.
I smile slightly. “Okay.”
There’s a pause. “Is Rory your boyfriend? Will they live with us?”
My breath stills for a second. Because there it is. The real question. I reach over, smoothing his hair back gently.
“Yes, he is. And only if we all choose it together,” I say softly.
He frowns. “What does that mean?”
“It means it’s not just my decision,” I explain carefully. “And it’s not just Rory’s either. It’s ours. We all have to feel happy and safe and want the same thing.”
He thinks about that. Properly. “Okay.”
“You can always tell me if something doesn’t feel right,” I add. “Always.”
“I know.”
He leans into me slightly. “I like him,” he says quietly.
“I know you do.”
“And Isla.”
“She’s pretty great.”
He nods. “She’s funny.”
“She is.”
There’s a small silence. “Does that mean Isla is like my sister?”
And everything pauses. Because that’s bigger than anything I’ve said. And suddenly this isn’t just about me anymore. It’s aboutus. I don’t answer straight away. Because I know I’m not the only one who should. The tension in that question is broken by a knock at the door. Theo is already off the sofa before I’ve even properly stood up, his feet hitting the floor with that quick burst of energy he always gets when he’s excited about something, and I follow behind him at a slower pace, my hand instinctively brushing over the bracelet at my wrist as I walk,grounding myself. Because this isn’t just us anymore. This is them.
Theo reaches the door first, pulling it open without hesitation, and Isla is standing there, her face lighting up the second she sees him, Rory just behind her, one hand resting lightly against the doorframe, his eyes lifting immediately to find mine. There’s a second where everything else fades slightly. I give the smallest nod. We’re doing this.
Theo and Isla fall straight back into conversation like they’ve pressed play on something that was only paused, not stopped, their voices filling the hallway as they drift past us and into the house, already halfway into whatever game or story they’d been building earlier.
I close the door behind Rory, and for a moment we just stand there, side by side, listening to the kids in the next room, neither of us rushing to speak.
“This feels big,” I say quietly.
He huffs out a small breath beside me. “Yeah.”
