PART 34 — WHAT NATALIE WANTED
Natalie wanted distance.
Not from me forever.
Not from Aaron forever.
From the entire story.
She moved temporarily to a small apartment across town.
She stopped attending large family gatherings.
I respected it.
Healing is not a performance.
PART 35 — SIX MONTHS
Six months after the pool party, Aaron and Natalie had formally begun
ending their marriage with legal guidance.
There was no villain between them.
No affair.
No betrayal.
Only information neither had been given.
That made it sadder, not easier.
PART 36 — MY BODY
One morning, I stood in front of my bathroom mirror.
I lifted my shirt.
For forty-one years, I had seen the scar and thought:
This is where my son died.
Now I knew:
This is where my son survived.
I touched it.
Then cried.
Not from shame.
From grief changing shape.
PART 37 — HELEN’S MEMORY
Helen eventually remembered one final detail.
The day after my surgery, our mother had returned home carrying a blue
