Chapter 14: Aftermath
Jessica and Derek did not last the year.
I learned of the separation the way most people learn such things—through mutual acquaintances who still felt obligated to pass along news. There was no triumph in the information. Their relationship had been built on the assumption that I was the liar and that leaving me would deliver peace. Once that assumption collapsed under medical evidence, whatever remained between them apparently proved insufficient.
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Derek continued to pay support on time. He continued to appear for his scheduled time with Elise. He never asked for forgiveness, and I never offered a path back into my daily life. Some doors, once closed with enough force and clarity, are better left that way.
My own days settled into a rhythm I had not known I could claim: early mornings with Elise, work I could manage around her schedule, evenings that belonged only to the two of us. The neighborhood’s earlier judgment faded into uncomfortable silence and then into ordinary indifference. I did not need their revised opinions. I had the birth certificate, the settlement, and the child who had been called impossible.
