Her voice stayed even, but her eyes went somewhere he couldn't follow. I found out I was pregnant about 8 months into the relationship. I told him. He was quiet for a long time. She exhaled.
And then he told me he already had a family, a wife, two kids in Marietta. James said nothing. He had been careful about it. Sophia said. Very careful.
The kind of careful that takes practice. Her jaw tightened for just a second before she smoothed it back down. I ended it immediately. I wasn't going to I wasn't going to do that to another woman. And I wasn't going to raise Noah in that situation.
So, you were alone, James said. I was alone. She looked feet kicking at nothing in particular. Content in the way that babies are content when everything they need is within arms reach. And it was hard.
It was really genuinely hard. But I handled it. I worked until I couldn't work anymore. I saved. I made a plan.
She looked back up at James. And then the company folded the department and the plan went with it. James pushed his plate to one side and folded his hands on the table. What's your plan now? Get back into office management.
Update my resume. Start applying. I have references. Good ones. My former director would vouch for me in a second.
She sat up a little straighter. I'm not here to live on your charity, James. I need a safe place to land and a few weeks to get traction and I will be out of your way. I didn't ask you to get out of my way. Something flickered across her face.
You didn't have to, Sophia. He waited until she was looking at him. I let you in last night. I made you breakfast. You didn't make it.
I You made it in my kitchen with my groceries while you were staying in my house. He said it without heat. Just clearly. That makes it mine, too. In the way that matters.