Nora Goes Off Script

by Annabel Monaghan

“Have you ever felt like you’re disappearing?” he asks. “Like you’re sure one day you’re going to wake up and find that the truest parts of yourself have been replaced by someone else’s plans?”

“Well, this is new,” I say. “It is,” he says and takes my sweaty hand. “I mean, it’s a nice change from my old loop.” “I mean, you’re the first person I’ve ever been in love with,” he says. Just like that. It’s a Wednesday, I think, but I’m not even sure. In a meadow dotted with trees, covered in sweat with birds chirping around us, Leo Vance is in love with me. In that second, my life is like the tea house—I can see all the way through to the other side where there’s an entirely different reality.

The basic truth of parenting fills my heart: If your kids are okay, you don’t really have any problems. I will relish this feeling.