周六的陽光斜斜爬進落地窗，在桌布上灑下金斑。周建平看着兒子用叉子戳着cupcake，奶油沾在嘴角，突然覺得喉嚨發緊：“Hunter，we have something that we need to tell you.”

李曼看了眼周建平，不耐地說道：“Joe, just come straight out with it.”

周建平再次艱難開口道：“We uh kind of have something big news……”

“sweetie,”李曼直接攬住兒子單薄的肩膀，廣藿香香水混着蛋糕的甜香，“Sometimes, grown-ups figure out that they need to live in different places to be happier. So, Mommy and Daddy have decided have decided to get a divorce.”她輕輕擦去兒子臉上的奶油，“That means we won’t be married anymore and we won’t live together.”

周伯希的叉子懸在半空，巧克力碎屑簌簌落在盤子裡。他歪着腦袋，睫毛在陽光下投出細碎的影：“Why do you have to get a divorce?”

周建平剛欲開口，李曼已經搶白道：“Sometimes, people change or start wanting different things in life. It doesn’t mean we don’t care about each other—it just means we think it’s better for both of us to live separately so we can be happier. But what matters most is this: we both love you so much, and that will never change. You’re still our amazing kid, and we’ll always be your Mommy and Daddy.

“We know this might be hard to hear, and we're really sorry if it makes you feel sad. We love you more than anything, and we want you to be happy too. We promise that both of us will always be here for you, no matter what. You’ll get to spend time with both of us, and we’ll always be there to help you, take care of you, and love you—just like we always have.”周建平在一旁補充道。

“I don’t always like when things change. It can feel a little scary or strange.”周伯希低下頭，情緒明顯有些低落。

“We know change isn’t easy, but we’ll be right here with you as you go through it. Just remember—we love you more than anything, and that’s never going to change.”李曼輕撫着兒子的頭。

“除了daddy和mommy分開，你的生活不會有任何改變，I promise.”周建平伸手握住兒子的手。

周伯希放下手中的叉子，一臉認真地問道：“我要去一個新國家嗎？還得轉學嗎？”

“你不需要去新的國家，也不需要轉學。”周建平連忙回答。

“So… everything's gonna be the same?”周伯希再次确認道。

李曼将兒子的手包進自己掌心，點了點頭，“Yeah, everything will be just like before. You’ll keep living in China with Dad, and you can still come to the US to hang out with Mom during the holidays.”她聲音溫柔得像融化的焦糖。

周伯希突然笑起來，露出缺了顆門牙的豁口：“哦，那就沒問題了。你們還有其他事情要說嗎？沒有的話，我要去給Amy準備生日賀卡了。”他蹦跳着跑開了。

廚房飄來咖啡機的嗡鳴，李曼斜倚在椅背上，挑着眉看呆立的前夫。晨光給她的側臉鍍上金邊，像是在說：你看，孩子遠比我們想象的要通透。

月光從窗簾縫隙間漏進來，輕柔地灑在三人身上，父母的手都被周伯希緊緊攥着。

“sweetheart，daddy和mommy離婚不會對你有任何影響的，daddy保證。”周建平的聲音裡帶着一絲小心翼翼。

周伯希眨着亮晶晶的眼睛，小臉上滿是認真，“I really like Mommy now. I mean, she was pretty before, but now she’s even more awesome. She didn’t smile a lot before, but now she’s always got this happy, shiny look in her eyes.”接着，他又看向周建平，“Before, I barely saw Daddy ‘cause Mommy said daddy was super busy. But now, I see him all the time! You even came to my sports day!.”周伯希手舞足蹈地比劃着周建平是如何陪他一起跑步的。

李曼輕輕捏了捏兒子的鼻子，佯裝嗔怪，“小沒良心的，mommy懷胎九個月把你生下來，在你心裡還不如daddy陪你玩一會兒。”

周伯希急忙在李曼臉上親了一口，“I love you，mommy！”