The next morning, Adair stood in front of the mirror buttoning his shirt when he caught himself hesitating. There was one more thing to do. Something harder. He picked up the phone and dialed. Sabine answered on the third ring.
“Hey,” she answered with a bit of surprise. They hadn’t truly talked sincethatnight. “Everything okay?”
“Yea…ummm…I wanted to run something by you.”
A pause.
“Uh…okay, shoot.”
“I booked something a little different for Ade’s party.”
“Something…different?”
“Yeah. A mobile planetarium. Whole dome setup. Space visuals. Astronauts. Interactive guide, a voice-guided mission, it’s a whole thing.”
Another pause.
“Sabine?”
“I’m here…I’m…just…wow. That’s amazing, Adair.”
“I wanted to do something different. You’ve carried this for years. I figured it was time I pulled more weight, not just throw a check at it. I know you’ve been busy lately and I know mom has been helping but this is my responsibility too.”
Silence stretched but not tense. More like…surprise softening into acknowledgment.
Exhaling, slowly, she responded, “you didn’t have to ask me, Adair, he’s yours just as much as mine and if this is what you wanted for his party it’s perfectly fine with me. I appreciate you for taking it over honestly, I’ve been kinda spreading myself thin.”
“I know but I still wanted to make sure. I didn’t want you to feel like I was stepping on your plans or anything.”
“Well, I appreciate you for that.”
“Yea,” Adair nodded. “I know I didn’t make space for this before,” he added. “You just handled it, and I got used to that.”
“I let you,” she admitted. “I didn’t ask. I didn’t delegate. I just…did and then resented it later.”
“That’s fair.”
“It’s not blame,” she said gently. “It’s just what happened.”
They sat in that soft space for a beat.
Not a reconciliation.
Not a beginning.
Justclarity.
“I also recorded a message,” he added. “For the dome intro.”
“Like a birthday message?”
“Yeah. They offered, so I did it.”
Sabine was quiet again. Then, “he’s gonna love that.”
“I hope so.”
There was a warmth in her voice when she said, “Thank you, Adair seriously.”