At the time, the decision not to have children had felt progressive, thoughtful, and even enlightened. They framed the decision as intentional freedom, mutual, and a modern choice. What if he had changed his mind? What if he needed more to life than what he shared with her?
Laura wondered if the lack of kids had created a distance she had never foreseen. Without children, there were fewer forced reckonings, fewer shared anchors. Life ran easily parallel. Silence grew comfortable, then permanent, until absence itself felt normal, unquestioned, and strangely invisible between them.