My ex-wife came to see our son. She ended up staying the night. I let her sleep on the couch. After midnight, I heard something I wasn’t supposed to hear.

She stayed. During dinner, Mason talked endlessly about a dinosaur documentary he had seen. Laura listened the way she always had, smiling and asking questions. Watching the two of them together felt strangely normal, almost like nothing between us had ever changed.

Afterward, Mason asked if she could stay and watch a movie with us.

Laura glanced at me. “That’s up to your dad.”

I sighed lightly. “It’s fine.”

We sat on the couch and watched The Incredibles. Mason curled up between us like he used to when he was younger. About forty minutes before the end of the movie, he fell asleep against Laura’s shoulder.

For a moment, everything felt painfully familiar—the warmth of the living room, the quiet breathing of our son, and the feeling that we were still a family.