A steady knock echoed through your apartment just as you finished buttoning Blake’s tiny cardigan. You glanced toward the clock on the stove out of habit anyway—6:00 p.m. exactly.

Sam was never late.

You opened the door to find her standing there with her hands tucked into the pockets of a dark coat, hair pulled back neatly, smelling faintly of cedarwood and citrus. Somehow, even after all this time, she still looked unfairly put together for a simple custody pickup.

“Hey,” she said softly, eyes immediately drifting past you. “How’s my favorite little guy?”

You stepped aside just as a small squeal came from the living room.

Blake sat in the middle of a blanket fortress surrounded by stuffed animals, chubby hands gripping a plastic dinosaur almost bigger than his face. The moment he spotted Sam, his entire face lit up.

“Mama!” he babbled excitedly, bouncing hard enough to topple sideways onto the carpet.

Sam laughed under her breath—a real one, quiet and surprised—and crouched immediately to scoop him up. Blake grabbed fistfuls of her jacket with sticky hands, pressing his face into her shoulder while still clutching the dinosaur.

“You’ve got drool on your chin, buddy,” she murmured, brushing it away with her thumb.

Blake answered by smacking the toy dinosaur against her collarbone and making an enthusiastic growling sound.

You folded your arms, leaning against the doorway to the kitchen while watching the two of them together. It should’ve been easier by now, these weekly handoffs. Routine. Normal.

Instead, moments like this still caught you off guard.

Because Sam looked at Blake like she couldn’t believe he was real sometimes. Like every missed bedtime, every milestone she only saw through videos and photos, sat heavy on her chest no matter how hard she pretended otherwise.

And maybe that was why her expression shifted when she looked up at you.

Softer. Quieter.

Blake curled happily against her, chewing on the dinosaur’s tail while she adjusted him against her hip with practiced ease.

Then Sam hesitated near the door.

“There’s a baby exhibit at the aquarium tomorrow,” she said casually, though the uncertainty in her voice gave her away. “You know… sensory stuff, lights, music. He’d probably love it.”

Her fingers tapped lightly against Blake’s back before she added, almost too quickly, “You could come too, if you want.”