“No,” he said. “Nothing about this is normal.”
From the living room, Leo yelled, “Mom!
The robot’s broken!”
“Santa forgot the batteries!” Mia called.
I wiped my face.
“I’ll be right there!” I shouted back.
I turned to Quentin.
“I don’t know how to feel,” I said. “I’m relieved. I’m furious.
I feel like a jerk. And also like you still hurt me.”
He nodded. “All of that’s fair.”
“I don’t know if I can forgive you for all the stress.
But I want to.”
I didn’t answer.
I just went and fixed the robot.
He hovered in the doorway while I put batteries in and pretended nothing had changed.
But everything had.
That night, he helped put the kids to bed.
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