I drop off groceries, medicine, a hug. He is scruffy - an overdue haircut and the pallor of illness.

I am about to leave to get back to working from home.

“Hey, wait, come over here.”

“Oh - what’s going on?” He is sitting on the couch. I kneel in front of him and hug him. Pull back to make space for him to talk.

“I was talking with Autumn last night. He’s been thinking about the potential outcomes of all of this, and he posed a serious question.”

“Oh?”

“How would you feel about raising their kids with me, should they both pass away?”

“What about the grandparents?”

“They are all too old. It wouldn’t be the best for the children. They wouldn’t get the same kind of experiences that we could provide. He said that we are the most put-together couple that he knows.”

I breathe in and out. I think of the boy, of his soft skin and big emotions. I think of the girl, of reading a book to her just a short time ago.

“Yes. Of course. Of course we’d take the kids. How could we not?”