Christmas morning felt ordinary — until my husband opened a gift that sent his past rushing back like a whirlwind. What came next changed the way we celebrated the holidays.
My husband, Greg, and I had built the kind of life that didn’t need explaining. We had one child. And I believed we had trust between us until that fateful day during the holidays when Greg’s ex resurfaced in our lives, changing everything.
Greg and I had been together for 12 years. In that time, we had grown into a rhythm so familiar it was almost sacred. We had grocery lists stuck to the fridge, half-finished puzzles on the dining table, and inside jokes no one else would understand.
Coffee travel mugs balanced between our seats amid school runs, fun birthday celebrations at the same Italian place we’d gone to for a decade, and the occasional spontaneous dinner date when we managed to escape the workweek chaos.