PAUL COMPLETELY SYMPATHIZES with Alex, but they still need to find a way to move forward as a family. The night after Ali’s dance recital, everyone gathers on Carly and Liam’s back deck after dinner. Ali is over at a friend’s house for the evening. Vic and Claudia are chattering with each other in some mutually intelligible baby language as Vic tries to show Claudia how to put together a little wooden puzzle. Claudia’s much more interested in chewing the pieces than connecting them. The adults gather around the table, Alex more reluctantly than the rest.
“Getting called into Victor’s office to get yelled at was not as intimidating as this,” Alex says sullenly as he slides into the chair next to Paul’s.
“You got called into Victor’s office to get yelled at?” Liam asks curiously.
Alex sig
