“Alright. But just for tonight.”
“Just for tonight,” she repeated.
They sat on the couch together, each holding a mug of hot chocolate. The television remained on but muted. Outside, the city kept moving, but inside the house everything felt calm—and that was more than enough.
Early Monday morning, Tomás woke to the sound of small footsteps crossing the living room. He opened his eyes to see Alma standing in front of the sofa hugging her doll.
“Daddy, did you sleep here?”
“Yes, sweetheart. Your mom let me stay in case you woke up during the night.”
“That’s great! I thought you’d already gone.”
She climbed onto the couch beside him. Tomás wrapped his arms around her without saying anything. The house was still quiet. Santiago remained asleep, and Leticia hadn’t come out of her room yet.
A few minutes later Leticia appeared wearing pajamas, holding a mug of coffee.
“Good morning.”
“Morning,” Tomás replied without moving. “Did you sleep well?”
“Better than I expected. Your couch is surprisingly comfortable.”
Leticia chuckled softly.
Alma stretched.
“Can we have pancakes for breakfast?”
“What do you think?” Leticia replied. “Of course we can!”
Alma ran off to wake her brother while Tomás stood up to help set the table. There was a strange but comfortable feeling between them. They weren’t dating, but they weren’t strangers either—something in between, built on respect, healing, and shared routines.
While they were eating breakfast, Santiago suddenly spoke with his mouth full.
“Hey, what if we did this every Monday?”
“You mean breakfast together?” Leticia asked.
“Yeah! All four of us before school.”
Tomás and Leticia exchanged a look.
“We could try,” he said.
“But only if you help clean up afterward,” she added.
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