Hannah I couldn’t breathe. Something dreadful swelled in my chest, my breath lodged in my throat as I stumbled blindly away from the library room. Hot tears streamed down my cheeks, my shoulders shaking with the force of my silent sobs. Seeing Noah like that, laughing and joking and carrying on with those kids... It was like a punch to the gut. I felt as if all of the air had been knocked out of my lungs, or like the rug had been pulled out from under me. He was so good with them. So natural, so playful, so utterly at ease. Sure, it had taken him a few minutes, but… I guessed a part of me had always known, deep down, that he would make a wonderful father. But seeing it with my own eyes was almost too much to bear. Especially when paired with the crushing knowledge that