Amina stayed for five days in early May, and this visit felt different from the others. There was still caution in the way she moved through the house, but it was no longer the sharp, guarded kind. It was quieter. More thoughtful. She spent long stretches sitting on the porch alone, sometimes reading, sometimes just watching the lilacs sway. When she joined us, she was present in a way she hadn’t been before.
On the third morning, she came into the kitchen while Elias was making coffee. She stood there for a moment, arms crossed loosely over her chest, before she spoke.
“I’ve been thinking about something,” she said. “I know I’ve said I need time with the whole baby conversation. And I still do. But I also don’t want to keep treating it like this f*******n topic that we can only talk abo
