Tessa shrugged. “Chris and I hadn’t been going out at all, as a couple, you know. And I thought maybe if I went out with him more on the weekends, it might be good for us. But the stuff he’s doing—day drinking at a ball game, going out with his coworkers to a rooftop bar—it’s not stuff we can bring Zoe to, or we could, but it would change the vibe and we’d probably have to leave early and Chris would hate that, or he’d tell me to leave with her and he’d stay, and I didn’t want that, either. So now she’s with a babysitter for at least some part of every day. And I feel like I’m . . . I’m choosing Chris over her. Is that terrible? Am I terrible?”

Emily felt a surge of envy and reminded herself to take a deep breath. “I think Chris is pressuring you to make a choice that puts you in a terrible position.” She tried to keep her own feelings neutral. She wanted to help Tessa, she felt for Tessa. But she was also, she realized, jealous of Tessa, whose body had produced a beautiful baby girl without even trying. “Have you talked to Chris about any of this?”

Tessa nodded. “Sort of. I tried hinting once that maybe he could come home earlier and be with her while I’m studying—I wouldn’t feel quite so bad that way—and his suggestion was that we ask one of our moms to keep Tessa until I finished school.”

“How did that make you feel?” Emily asked, keeping her face unreadable, even though it felt like a vise was squeezing her heart. Having this conversation with Tessa right now seemed almost cruel.

Tessa pulled the tips of her hair in front of her eyes, examining her split ends. “Like he doesn’t really care if she’s around. Or maybe worse, doesn’t actually want her around. He said it’s not true, just that he wants things to be easier for me, but I don’t know. It’s not like she’s a box of sweaters we can leave in my mom’s basement. She’s an actual person, our baby, and it would change her relationship with us if we asked one of our moms to take care of her until May. But I don’t want to dismiss his ideas, either.” She looked up at Emily. “What do you think?”

Emily smiled slightly, sadly, but didn’t say anything. There was a brief silence in the room until: “You want me to figure out what I think,” Tessa said.