Chapter 13 - Evelyn And I Finally Ended The Marriage Without Ending The Family
Our divorce finalized the following spring.
No courtroom warfare.
No custody spectacle.
We had already done enough damage.
Evelyn kept her new house.
I kept the mansion temporarily, though I eventually sold it.
Parenting time expanded gradually until it became close to equal.
Not mathematically perfect.
Functional.
We used one shared calendar.
No weaponized missed calls.
No using Orson to deliver messages.
No discussing money in front of him.
When disagreements happened, mediation came before litigation.
The first year was awkward.
Then boring.
Boring became beautiful.
At a school concert, Evelyn sat three seats away from me.
Orson spotted both of us.
His face lit up.
That expression mattered more than sitting together ever could.
Maeve attended too.
Not in uniform.
She had been invited by Orson.
Evelyn waved her over.
Maeve sat beside her.
For one uncomfortable second, the old version of me felt something.
Jealousy.
Then I recognized it.
Named it.
May you like
Let it pass.
Progress sometimes means having the same emotion and making a different choice.
