By the time Sophie walks in, I’m cooking dinner for the three of us as Jake watches an action movie in the living room. He’s lounging on the couch as if he’s always lived here, his shoes discarded on the floor; I smile at his ability to just exist in any surrounding that he’s put in. He just adapts effortlessly and never questions or criticizes. I’m sure he’s on the verge of sleep; I can tell by his relaxed posture. It all seems very domesticated and normal, like this is how we always are.

After changing her clothes in my old room, Sophie enters the kitchen and casts me a...