After dinner, Cooper asked if Diane could stay to watch a movie. I looked at her, and then she looked at me. We exchanged a glance, one that carried more weight than I realized.
“It’s up to your dad,” she said, her voice soft.
“It’s fine,” I said, giving in. Why not? It was just a movie, right?
We sat on the couch, Cooper nestled between us as we watched The Incredibles. Cooper fell asleep about forty minutes from the end, just like he used to when he was younger, his head resting against Diane’s shoulder. That was the moment when everything seemed to slip back into place, like I could still hear the echoes of our old life. The life where we were a family, a unit, a team.
