The sun had barely broken through the cloudy morning when Aria heard the familiar knock on the door. Not rushed, not hesitant—just... consistent. Like he'd decided this was his rhythm now. She glanced at the clock. 8:59 AM.
Right on time.
Eli was already at the door before she could get up. "It's Daddy!" he shouted, socks skidding across the floor as he reached for the knob.
"Wait, wait—Eli," she said, drying her hands on a dish towel as she walked into the living room. "Check who it is first."
Eli peered through the peephole. "He's holding a box. I bet it's muffins!"
Aria unlocked the door and stepped aside. Elias stood there, box in one hand, coffee tray in the other.
"I brought peace offerings," he said, lifting the coffee tray slightly.
"Mom loves coffee," Eli whispered as if it were a state secret.
Aria raised a brow. "What flavor?"
"Hazelnut. I remembered you used to like that."
She took the cup and sniffed. "Still do."
Eli reached for the box. "Is that muffins?"
"Sort of. It's a mix—muffins and mini croissants. There's even one of those chocolate swirl things."
Eli gasped like he'd just found gold. "Chocolate for breakfast? Mom?"
She shook her head but smiled. "Just this once."
They all settled at the dining table. Eli was humming to himself, crumbs dotting his plate, while Aria sipped her coffee slowly, eyes flicking to Elias occasionally.
"So," Elias said after a few minutes, "any plans today?"
"Just some reading and practice. He's learning a new piece."
"Which one?"
Eli jumped in. "It's really hard. But I like it. It sounds like a movie."
"It's from Howl's Moving Castle," Aria said. "He got obsessed after watching it last weekend."
Elias grinned. "Good taste. That movie made me cry when I first watched it."
"You cry in movies?" Eli asked, wide-eyed.
"Only the really good ones," Elias said with mock seriousness. "Or when the dog dies."
Aria let out a quiet laugh. It caught her off guard. Elias noticed.
"You haven't laughed in front of me like that in a while," he said, gently.
She looked down at her coffee. "Yeah. I guess."
Eli interrupted again. "Daddy, can we go to the library later? Mom said maybe, but I think maybe means yes if you ask again."
"Smooth," Elias said, amused. "What do you say, Aria?"
"Library's fine. As long as he doesn't come back with ten dinosaur books again."
"They're educational!" Eli protested.
"Sure," she said. "If you're planning to become a paleontologist at five."
Elias leaned back in his chair. "Honestly, that track."
After breakfast, Aria started cleaning up while Eli ran to get dressed. Elias moved beside her at the sink.
"Let me help."
"You're a guest."
"I'm trying not to be."
She handed him a wet plate. "Then dry."
They worked quietly for a moment. The soft clink of dishes filled the space.
"Can I ask you something?" Elias said, voice low.
Aria didn't look at him. "Depends."
"Why did you leave without saying anything three years ago?"
She froze, fingers gripping the rim of a plate.
He continued, softer this time. "I mean... I understand some of it. I was a mess. We were falling apart. But no note, no goodbye... it still eats at me."
Aria placed the plate down carefully. "Because if I said goodbye, I wouldn't have left."
He looked at her.
"I knew myself," she went on. "I knew I'd stay if I saw your face one more time. Even if everything was breaking. Even if I was breaking. And I couldn't afford to stay for your sake or mine. Not with Eli coming."
Elias was silent for a long moment.
"I thought I'd messed up so badly that you stopped believing I could ever fix it."
"I did," she admitted. "But I also wanted to believe you could prove me wrong."
He nodded slowly. "I'm still trying."
"I know."
She wiped her hands and stepped back. "Let's not do this in front of him."
"Right."
Eli ran into the room, waving his library card like a flag. "Ready!"
The library was quiet, the sun filtering through tall windows and casting golden patches on the carpet. Eli was curled up in the children's corner, flipping through a giant book about planets.
Elias and Aria sat on a bench nearby, watching him.
"He's so curious," Elias said, his voice low. "I missed out on so much."
"You're here now."
"Do you believe that can make up for what I wasn't here for?"
She hesitated. "No. But it's a start."
He turned to her. "Is there still too much resentment?"
"I'm not angry all the time anymore. But it doesn't mean the past disappeared."
"I'm not asking you to erase it," he said. "I just want to be someone new in the present."
She looked over at Eli, who had now moved to stacking books into a makeshift fort.
"You're better with him than I expected," she admitted.
"Maybe because I keep thinking about what it would've been like if I'd never had this chance."
Eli ran up to them. "Can we take five books? Please?"
"Five?" Aria echoed. "You said three earlier."
"That was before I found the one about volcanoes."
She laughed under her breath. "Alright. But only if you promise to read them all."
"I will!"
They checked out the books and walked home. Eli chattered the whole way about lava and Mars and a robot dog in one of the stories.
At the apartment, Aria pulled out ingredients to make lunch. Elias didn't leave.
"I can go if you want," he offered.
"You're already here. Might as well stay."
He helped her chop vegetables while Eli arranged his books in a rainbow on the couch.
"I like this," Elias said suddenly.
"What?"
"This... rhythm. You and me just doing normal things."
Aria didn't reply, but she didn't ask him to leave either.
After lunch, Eli dozed off on the couch, one book still open on his chest.
Aria lowered the volume of the TV and handed Elias a glass of water. They sat on opposite ends of the couch, the silence strangely comfortable.
"I've been thinking," Elias said, "about how I never learned how to just sit in stillness until now."
Aria looked at him. "What do you mean?"
"I used to fill everything with noise. Meetings. Phone calls. Travel. Like if I stayed quiet long enough, I'd hear everything I was ignoring."
"Like what?"
"Like the fact that I was scared of losing things I never really appreciated when I had them."
She didn't say anything. He wasn't expecting her to.
"I don't want to keep knocking on this door if it hurts you," he said after a while. "But I also can't walk away without knowing I gave it my all."
She leaned her head back against the couch, eyes closed. "You're here, Elias. That counts for something."
"And tomorrow?"
She opened her eyes. "We'll see."
He smiled faintly. "I'll be here either way."
They sat in the quiet again, Eli's steady breathing in the background. Not everything was healed. Not everything was easy. But for now, there was a rhythm.
One knock, one step, one day at a time.