(Lydia)My heels clicked down the pavement outside the theater and I glanced up at the evening sky. It was a beautiful shade of purple. I had paid the cab driver two minutes ago after he had dropped me here.It was ridiculous, I thought, to get picked up for dinner outside my workplace. But Thomas had insisted. I had wondered about whether he was hiding from my sister or his children, all of whom were at the hotel.But Ruby already knew that I was going out with Thomas. She hadn’t exactly approved of it, but hadn’t reprimanded me either.I was wearing my navy long dress and a pair of silver heels. And, yes, I was a little nervous.Thomas pulled up two minutes later. He got out of the car and said, “I’m so sorry I’m late”. I shook my head, smiling slightly. Apparently, we’d color-coordinated.He returned my smile and my heart leapt a little. “You look so beautiful tonight,” he said.I blushed. “What was the point of picking me up here?” I asked.“Enh,” Thomas shrugged.I walked over to

(Lydia)And, now, here we were in a car again together, driving to the hospital for our baby daughter. Thomas had immediately dashed outside and asked the valet to bring the car around.Tears welled up in my eyes as we sped across the road on the way to the hospital. My shoulders shook as I broke down. Thomas glanced quickly towards me, opened his mouth to say something, but then shifted his eyes back towards the road. He pressed down on the accelerator, blew up the horn, and began swerving the steering wheel left and right as he wreaked havoc and overtook cars.I looked back at the road. The street and car lights were blurry golden through my tear-soaked eyes.“It’s going to be okay,” Thomas whispered to me. I did not have it in me to respond at all.***When we arrived, Mabel was sitting on the bed. She was being looked at by the doctor. “Oh, my baby!” I cried as I ran up to her and swooped up her small, delicate body in my arms. “I’m okay, mommy,” my daughter replied. Her angelic f

(Lydia)Adam had been telling me on the drive here that bee sting allergies were incredibly rare. He had told me that it wasn’t serious, though, and that I shouldn’t worry about it. I had changed into a T-shirt and slacks, preparing myself for a long night at the hospital.When we had pulled up, my head had still been spinning from all that had happened today: Margaret showing up at the theater to threaten my children only to reappear a few hours later and give them so much maternal affection and then taunt me about some apparent hidden agenda, Thomas asking me out to dinner, my daughter ending up the hospital for the first time, and her father demonstrating genuine concern.I had ignored Thomas as I made my way to the hospital room on purpose. Not that I hadn’t caught him gazing at me but I had deliberately avoided making eye contact.“Here’s the overnight bag!” Adam exclaimed, dumping it down on the sofa and then crashing down beside it.“Adam and I will watch the children,” I told

(Lydia)It was finally Mabel’s last day in the hospital. I gazed at my daughter adoringly, deeply grateful that she looked healthy again. The past four days had been a whirlwind. I had taken a leave from work and stayed by my daughter’s side round-the-clock.Thankfully, I had heard from neither Thomas nor his mother during this time. I felt at peace knowing that drama had subsided but I couldn’t help but deny that I missed Thomas. Even the briefest exposure to his old self had been enough to unravel me. But I shook away these thoughts and feelings.I was throwing my daughter a little party and Ruby had snuck in some streamers, balloons, ribbons, and flowers.While Mabel was out for her final round of tests, Ruby and I cut and curled the ribbons and taped them to the wall. Miles helped us pump the helium balloons. He put his weight down on the pump and laughed with glee as each balloon expanded. Together, we tied the balloons down to a weight and placed the colorful arrangement by the

(Lydia)Thomas had selected one of our favorite restaurants again. As we pulled up in the parking lot, a smile broke out on my face. I smoothed out my shimmering mauve dress and caught a glimpse of my face in the rearview mirror. I had dressed up especially tonight. I was excited for this dinner.Rossi Ristorante was an Italian place downtown and we had hundreds of fond memories here, including random stop-ins for pizza and bruschetta while we were at university, some of our friends’ birthday parties (with the restaurant’s famous gelato cake), and the weekend after our graduation when we had stopped by here for dinner after spending hours shopping for our wedding.Thomas had always loved their pizzas and crostata. Based on his heritage, I was surprised that he hadn’t selected this very restaurant to propose to me in.So when he ordered me a pistachio gelato that he knew that I had always loved, I wondered if he remembered any of these things. “Do you remember the dinner we had here af