Jess buried her face into Mason’s shoulder as the dam finally broke. The quiet sobs shook her, years of imagined futures unraveling all at once. Her dreams of a clean conversation, of maybe co-parenting, of not doing this alone—gone.
Mason didn’t say anything more. He just held her. Let her cry. His hand gently stroked her back, slow and steady, like a heartbeat she could sync to.
After a long while, when the storm inside her calmed enough for breath, she pulled away just slightly, her eyes red and cheeks flushed. “God… I feel so stupid.”
“Don’t.” Mason’s voice was calm but firm. “You were honest. You did the right thing.”
Jess gave a weak laugh. “Yeah, and now I’m going to be a single mom in college.”
“You won’t be alone,” he said again. “I meant what I said, Jess. I’m here.”
She looked at him, eyes searching his for some kind of condition—some unspoken price. But there was none. Just warmth. Just Mason.
“But… why?” she asked quietly. “Why would you do this? We’ve always just been... you know, kind of a mess.”
Mason smiled, a little sad. “Maybe. But you’re my mess.”
Jess blinked.
He reached for her hand and took it in his. “I don’t know what this is going to look like. I don’t have a grand plan, and I’m not pretending I can replace anyone. But if you’ll let me, I’ll walk through this with you. Every step.”
She looked down at their hands, then back to his face. Her heart ached with gratitude, confusion, and something else—something
un-nameable but good.
“Okay,” she whispered.
They sat like that for a while longer, the noise of the café fading into a kind of stillness. Outside, the world went on. But inside, Jess had found an anchor.