Page 45 of The Breaking Point

I glance at Aiden, then back at Dr. Claudia. “I don’t want to be a married single parent,” I say quietly. “Even when we were still living under the same roof, it felt like I was doing it alone. I don’t want that anymore. I need a partner. Not someone who drops inwhen it’s convenient. I need to know I’m not carrying this whole thing by myself.”

Aiden shifts again on the couch, but this time his voice is low and clearer. “I need you to be honest with me. Not just when it’s too late. Not when you’re already halfway out the door or when you’re exploding. I need you to trust me enough to say the hard stuff before it turns into silence.”

I nod, slowly, and the room fills with a heavy stillness. Not angry. Not soft either. Just full.

Dr. Claudia closes her notebook. “Okay,” she says, “I’m going to give the two of you some homework.” She offers a faint smile. “Go on a date.”

I blink. “With each other?”

“Yes,” she replies, “but there are rules. You cannot talk about the boys. And you cannot talk about therapy or anything relating to it.”

Aiden looks just as caught off guard as I feel. “What are we supposed to talk about then?” I ask.

“Yourselves,” she says simply. “Not the parents. Not the spouses. Just Kate and Aiden. You need to remember who you are to each other, not just who you are to everyone else.”

Aiden nods slowly, the weight of that sinking in.

“And one more thing,” Dr. Claudia adds. “No sex.”

My eyebrows lift. “What?”

She doesn’t flinch. “Sexual intimacy can blur things. I want you to see each other clearly. This isn’t about fixing anything with touch. It’s about connection. Start there.”

Aiden lets out a soft laugh through his nose. Not mocking. More surprised than anything. I glance down at my hands, then over at him.

He’s already looking at me.

We both nod.

“Have you ever given birth?” I ask her.

She shakes her head.

“Well, it’s terrifying. Not just the pain. The fear. The way everything feels like it’s falling apart. And the vulnerability of it. I expected Aiden to be there. I needed him to be there. When he didn’t show, even though he had a reason, something in me just shut down.”

I take a slow breath.

“After that, I stopped telling Aiden the hard things. I didn’t want to give him more reasons to stay away. I started trying to only give him the good stuff. I wanted him to come home to peace. I didn’t want to scare him off.”

I turn to him.

“I know you didn’t ask me to do that. But I was so scared you would leave us. I was terrified I wasn’t enough on my own. So,I handled everything. I took the mess and the chaos and all the dirty, exhausting parts. And I never stopped.”

He says, “”

His voice is firm, but it doesn’t come from anger. It sounds tired. Worn down, like he’s said it too many times before and still thinks maybe this time I’ll believe it.

Dr. Claudia closes her notebook. “Okay,” she says, “I’m going to give the two of you some homework.”

I straighten slightly, unsure what that means.

She smiles, just a little. “Go on a date.”

I glance at Aiden, who looks just as caught off guard.

“With each other,” she adds. “But there are rules. You cannot talk about the boys. And you cannot talk about therapy or anything relating to it.”

I blink. “What are we supposed to talk about then?”

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