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The administrative work.
The logistics.
What those things would have cost if purchased as services.
She named the figure.
Gabriel looked at the number.
He said: that’s not how it works.
Patricia said: it’s how it works when you’re dividing a marital estate.
He went still.
He said: dividing?
I said: I have not filed anything.
He said: then why is she here?
I said: because I want you to understand what the house is.
I said: and what the marriage is.
He said: Sara.
I said: the house is ours. Equally. In every legal and practical sense.
I said: and when you told me this was your house and you were the man of the house, you were wrong.
I said: and when you put my seventy-year-old mother on an air mattress in the basement because Danny wanted to watch football, you were wrong about more than the law.
He said: I made a mistake.
He said: I handled it badly.
He said: can we talk about this without the attorney?
Patricia said: I’ll give you some privacy.
She went to the kitchen.
Judith went with her, because Judith understood when her presence was not needed.
My mother started to get up.
I said: Mom. Please stay.
She said: Sara.
I said: he needs to say this to you too.
She sat down.
Gabriel looked at her.
He said: Helen.
She said: it’s all right, Gabriel.
He said: it’s not all right.
He said: I’m sorry.
He said it simply, without the defense that had been there for most of the evening.
He said: I didn’t think about what I was doing.