Ben’s heart was already thumping hard enough that he noticed it when he pulled into the driveway. He’d already been cutting it fine when he’d hit traffic coming over the bridge. The fact that Karen was on the doorstep before he’d even switched off the ignition had him dreading getting out of the car. He did though, muttering, “I know, I know, I’m sorry, the traffic—” before she cut him off.

“It’s fine, just—it’s fine.” Her face was pinched and unhappy, the way she got when she was stressed. The way she’d looked for the last few years if Ben was honest with himself. “My ride isn’t here yet.” She was already in her RN’s uniform, hair pulled tight into a severe bun that would likely give her a headache by the morning.

They both paused on the doorstep, taking a deep breath and a moment of silence that was all icy tension and the taste of clenched jaws. The months of marriage guidance they’d put themselves through wasn’t for nothing and this breather they’d learned to take always helped. It was never about saving their marriage, even in the beginning. Just saving their family.

Karen opened the door and Ben followed her in, the house warm and comforting. It took about two seconds for the sound of feet to come thundering down the hall, and for Ben to find himself with an armful of child.

Ben held his daughter tight as she clung to him, burying her face in his neck. “Hey, Maddie.”

She pulled away from him, her smile beaming despite the toothless gap in the front. “Are you staying, Daddy?”

Ben sighed and brushed her long chestnut hair over her shoulder. “Just for tonight, pumpkin. Your sister around?”

Madison combed her fingers through his beard with both hands, eyeing it with intent and Ben figured he’d be subjected to some kind of makeover before he managed to get her to bed. “In her room. Sulking.”

Ben’s heart hurt to hear it. He kissed Madison on the cheek as he lowered her to the ground and watched her scurry back to the TV room. They’d expected Madison to be the one to struggle, being that she was the youngest at eight. And yet, it was Caitlyn who seemed to be finding the separation hardest to adjust to. Karen said it was being fifteen and full of hormones and Ben could only hope that’s all it was. At least, that way it could get better.

Karen yelled up the stairs as she passed them, and by the time Ben had followed her into the kitchen, he could hear the heavy tramping coming down. The pink streak that had adorned Caitlyn’s dark hair at the weekend had been replaced by electric blue but the fingernails were still black to match her clothes, if a little more chipped. She sidled up to her father, almost reluctantly but not quite enough to hide her happiness at him being there.

Ben smiled and pulled her against him, kissing her hair. “Hey, kid. I like the blue.”

Caitlyn risked a smile, only for a second, before returning to the scowl she usually wore while her mother was around. “We should do your beard sometime.”

Ben laughed. “Yeah. Maybe. You finished your homework?” Caitlyn nodded.

“Show him your assignment, hon,” Karen called from the lounge.

Caitlyn looked daggers at the open door but held up the paper that she’d been holding behind her back.

Ben grinned at the ‘A’ marked in red pen at the top. “Good going, Cate.” He hugged her again, awkwardly pulling her into his side by her shoulders. “I guess that hard work paid off after all.”

Caitlyn rolled her eyes. “No need to look so smug about it. You didn’t get the grade.”

Ben laughed. “No, but I got you so I’m allowed to bask in your glory.”

“It’s just math, Dad.”

“Just math, she says,” Karen was laughing as she came into the room, “Are geniuses allowed to be that modest?”

Ben smiled over at her. “No point asking me, she gets it all from you.” It was nice for about a second before it got awkward again. He cleared his throat. “You get new glasses?”

Karen straightened up from where she was rooting around in her bag and adjusted the frames on her face. “Yeah. You like ‘em? I wasn’t sure at first. Thought maybe they were a bit too heavy but I had a coupon…”

“No, they’re a good look on you. I think I might prefer them to your old ones.” It wasn’t forced, this interaction that they put themselves through every time, even though it was definitely deliberate. They didn’t hate each other, they just weren’t in love anymore—Ben doubted that he had ever been in love with her at least not in the way that she was with him—and it felt like the most important thing they could do was be a role model to their girls. So, they held back their frustrations and bickering—and outright hostility when it came—until they were alone. They made sure they said something nice to each other every time the girls saw them together and went back to their counselor regularly. And it was working. So far, it was working.

Karen smiled at him. “Thank you for coming over tonight. I’m sorry it was such short notice but someone came down with that stomach flu and I really need this extra shift. I hope I didn’t screw up your night. Did you have plans?”

Ben hoped to god he didn’t blush. Because yes, yes he did have plans. Plans that he couldn’t bear to think about standing at the kitchen counter with his kids right in front of him, looking at their baby pictures on the wall.

Instead, he forced a smile and shook his head. “Nothing I couldn’t postpone.”

Luckily there was an abrupt beep of a car horn from outside and suddenly Karen was forcing a kiss on each of the girls and flying out the door.

Ben frowned at the way Caitlyn scrubbed the kiss from her cheek with the palm of her hand as the door slammed shut. “You should cut your mother some slack, Cate. She works hard.”

Caitlyn scoffed and worried the lemons that were piled in a bowl on the table runner. “You know Ralph was picking her up?”

Ben balked, not only the realization but mostly at the way Caitlyn’s hostility was so evident. He’d been so careful to be Switzerland over the whole thing but there was his daughter sounding just like him. “Well, they work together,” Ben said, measured and calm. “Plus, they’re dating, so it makes sense.”

Caitlyn glared at him. “Don’t you care? You’re still married.”

Ben walked to the table and sat opposite her. He took her tiny hand in his, turning it carefully—her hummingbird fingers in his bear paws—saying the same thing he’d been repeating for the last six months and trying to ignore Caitlyn rolling her eyes. “We’re separated but we’re not getting back together. We were miserable together. You and your sister make us happy. We both love you and we’ll always be a family. It just means we won’t live together.”

Ben sighed and tried a different tack as Caitlyn tried to make herself look bored. “Ralph makes your mom happy. I make her unhappy. When we live under the same roof she makes me want to rip my own head off and you know I turn her into a spiteful bitch but I think we can be real friends like this eventually. It’s not rocket science, kid. We are trying. Can you just…?”

Caitlyn watched the place where he was cradling her hand, making no attempt to pull away. “And what about you? Do you have someone who makes you happy?”

Yes.

“Not yet.” Ben forced a smile. “You’ll be the first to know when I do.”

It seemed to do the trick. Caitlyn’s shoulders softened, and she slid into her chair a little. “So. Does my ‘A’ mean that I can get a beer?”

Ben laughed. “Absolutely.” He got up and walked to the fridge, pulling out one for himself. The top came off with a twist and Ben took a draft as he turned back and smacked his lips. “As soon as you turn twenty-one. Come on, it’s a school night so there’s bound to be something trashy on TV we can persuade your sister to watch.”