<http://schema.org/articleBody>
" It took a long time for Michelle and me to hash out the best way to proceed, but I made myself swallow my anger at her \u2014 temporarily \u2014 and do my best to figure out what was best for Jackson. Because, as badly as Michelle was behaving now, as conniving as this whole trip to Chicago had been, it did come from the place in her that wanted Jackson to feel like he was wanted by everyone (which he would now\u2026) and that we were honoring his decision to stay in Chicago (which we were going to try to do now).  &amp;quot;Are you sure,&amp;quot; she said, &amp;quot;that you don&amp;#039;t mind keeping him?&amp;quot;  &amp;quot;I am sure.&amp;quot;  &amp;quot;This isn&amp;#039;t forever,&amp;quot; she said. &amp;quot;I just want to settle in out there for awhile. Get the house in order. Set the groundwork for his arrival.&amp;quot;  &amp;quot;You could have just said that to begin with,&amp;quot; I said.  She shook her head. &amp;quot;No, Jackson wouldn&amp;#039;t have believed me. He would have felt abandoned.&amp;quot; She paused. &amp;quot;Don&amp;#039;t you tell him!&amp;quot;  I couldn&amp;#039;t even really look at her without getting angrier, especially when she said things like that. Things I had no idea whether to believe.  But I reminded myself that I loved Jackson \u2014 and that was what was at stake.  &amp;quot;I won&amp;#039;t,&amp;quot; I promised.  We decided that we were going to tell Jackson that he could stay with me until next Christmas vacation, at which point we would all revisit the issue.  He would go out to see Michelle on Labor Day weekend, Thanksgiving week, and for Christmas. I would go with him over Christmas, and we would figure out what was the best thing to do next.  And, for the rest of this week, Michelle would stay with us in Chicago. The thought of having her around wasn&amp;#039;t particularly appealing to me, but I kept repeating Jackson&amp;#039;s name in my mind. Like a mantra. Like a reminder of what mattered most.  After I felt solid about our plan \u2014 or as solid as I could feel, knowing where Michelle was really at emotionally \u2014 I sent Jackson a text message that we were going to work it out. You&amp;#039;ll get to stay here, not forever, but for now. For a while now\u2026 He texted back that he would meet us at Doug&amp;#039;s.  Michelle followed me in her rental car, and we pulled up just as Jackson was coming up the walk. I turned off my ignition and watched through the windshield as Michelle jumped out of her car and ran up to hug Jackson. How long had it been since I had first seen them together, coming down the escalator at the airport?  It felt like forever ago.  They walked inside, Jackson turning to wave at me before the door closed behind him.  I waved back, but I stayed in my car so they could have some time alone. So that they could have some time alone and I could take a second to close my eyes and breathe.  I reclined the seat all the way back, made myself take steady inhales, steady exhales. I did this for a good five minutes.  But when I opened my eyes, the first thing my eyes fixed on was the glove compartment.  And I lost most of the cool I&amp;#039;d recovered.  Because I remembered what was waiting for me in there: Jason&amp;#039;s letter.  I opened the glove compartment and took it out. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.redbookmag.com/love-sex/a1907/diary-e-072707/>