Chapter 12 - THE BABY NAME
At seven months pregnant, Emily and Ryan opened the baby-name notebook again.
The same one Diane had slapped onto the table.
One corner was bent.
Emily considered replacing it.
Then didn’t.
Ryan sat beside her on the sofa.
“Still like Claire?”
“Maybe.”
“Grace?”
“Too many Graces in my family.”
“Margaret?”
“You hate Margaret.”
“I’m brainstorming.”
Emily laughed.
The sound felt unfamiliar after months of conflict.
Then Ryan saw one page where Emily had written:
What kind of parents do we want to be?
Underneath:
Safe to disagree with.
Ryan touched the line.
“You wrote that before my mom?”
“Yes.”
He stared at it.
“My parents weren’t.”
Emily did not answer for him.
After a moment, he said:
“Dad wasn’t mean.”
“No.”
“He was kind.”
“Yes.”
“And still not safe to disagree around.”
Emily nodded.
That was harder for Ryan than naming Diane’s behavior.
Michael had been the good parent.
The gentle one.
But gentleness without protection had left Laura alone.
May you like
Ryan understood now that he could repeat Michael’s failure while believing he was nothing like Diane.
That realization changed him more than anger ever could.
