Charles: Did you finish it yet?

Liza: I'm almost done with the chapter.

Charles: I put the girls to bed early and finished it. You have no excuse!

It was like that a lot of nights - Charles and Liza texting or calling each other to talk about the book they were reading (together, but apart) or the TV show they were watching (together, but apart.)

It felt a little bit like a long distance relationship, with a river (and his girls and their job) in between them. Liza didn't mind.

She had a level of comfort with him that she didn't think she had with any man she was ever with.

David was needy, dragging her with him when he was down or leaning on her for everything.

Josh was high-energy, but frenetic, and everything felt like it could change.

But Charles was like a ring of calmness and warmth around her. It didn't mean he wasn't incredibly romantic. He could turn her on with a turn of a phrase, with a text. He was open and honest — which he openly and honestly admitted was new to him and something he was actively working on, for his sake, for her sake.

"For everybody's sake," he told her once, talking about the way he used to just shut down when things got too emotional.

Liza: I'll read it tonight. Promise.

Charles: So your birthday is coming up

It was a week before her 41st birthday and she didn't want anything at all for it. Except Kelsey insisted on throwing her a birthday party — a 27th birthday party, since that was how old she still thought she was.

Liza: I'm in luck: I celebrate two birthdays again this year: 27 and 41

Charles: Does that mean I'm dating two women at once?

Liza: Which one would you like me to be the next time I see you?

Charles: The real you, always

The day before her birthday Kelsey and Lauren took her out with a few more friends, toasting to 27 with shots. Liza felt worse than usual, like a liar and a cheat, as she got deeper into it.

At midnight Kelsey got her another round.

"Girl, here's to 27!," she said, and Liza toasted and drank it fast, wincing at both the taste of it and the enthusiasm and love Kelsey had for her, who was lying to her about, well, everything.

A few minutes later she saw a text from Charles sent at 12:01.

Charles: Happy, happy birthday my beautiful Liza

He added a birthday present emoji — Liza had recently taught him how to use emojis — and the heart-eyed one. It was silly enough to make her laugh and feel better, just temporarily. She was also surprised to see him texting so late. The two of them usually went to bed before 11.

Liza: This is past your bedtime, old man.

In the townhouse, in his bed, Charles laughed.

Charles: I was asleep and set my alarm! Talk to you tomorrow.

Liza: Goodnight sleepyhead. And thank you, for you.

"Who are you texting this late?," Kelsey asked, and Liza quickly put her phone in her bag.

"Just Maggie," she said, and Kelsey gave her a look.

"Oh please," she said. "You can't keep any secrets from me, Liza Miller."

Liza went home hours later, buzzed and feeling down, on her 41st — or 27th — birthday. How long could she keep it up?

The next morning she woke up a little hungover and Maggie was making coffee and toast.

"There's a delivery at the door," Maggie said.

Liza went out find a large bouquet of red and white dahlias in front of her door in the hallway.

Inside was a small card.

"To my caring, thoughtful, and intelligent Liza: "Let us never know what old age is." Happy birthday, however old you are, beautiful. Xo, Charles"

Liza, after reading the card, roared with laughter. She handed it to Maggie.

"He's good," Maggie said.

She called up Charles, who picked up on the third ring.

"Hey," she said.

"Hi," he said, and then, low and sexy, "Happy birthday, officially."

"These flowers are perfect," she said. "And your card - "

"- So you like the card? I was a little nervous. And since I won't be able to see you today I thought— ."

"It's funny," she said. "I need funny."

Liza sighed.

"Are you OK?," he asked.

"I feel terrible for lying to Kelsey," she said. "About my age. About us. About everything."

"Aw, Liza," he said. "Not on your birthday. Really. Don't think about all that today."

"She's a great friend and I'm here just lying to her," she said.

"Liza," he said. "You can tell her any time. And I think she'd understand. I mean that. But to feel bad about it today — when you should be celebrating how wonderful you are — is useless."

Liza realized she wanted nothing more than to hug him, even quickly, on her birthday.

"You should come by," she said. "Today. On my birthday."

"I have the girls," he said. "And it's probably too late to get their babysitter."

"Bring them," Liza said. "I mean it. Maggie's here. We can watch a movie — eat ice cream. Order pizza. Anything."

"Are you sure?," he said.

"I'm hungover and will be spending the whole day in my pajamas," she said. "But I also feel like I need to see your face in person. In the flesh. Maybe hold your hand under a blanket. So long as they don't notice I'm hungover."

"The girls have swim class in a little bit," he said. "But we can be over, after 1."

He sounded excited on the phone, but also nervous.

"What should I tell them?," he said, whispering. "Uh, about us. Or will they not even think about it?"

"Tell them we're friends - which are are - and that I'm having a birthday party," she said. "Which I am, technically. And you'll finally get to meet the infamous Maggie."

She glanced over at Maggie, who smiled.

"Ok!," he said. "What should I bring -"

"- Nothing. Just seeing you will be enough," she said.

Charles picked up the girls after swim class and as they drove south on the FDR Drive he told them they were going to see Liza.

"It's her birthday," he said. "She invited us over to help celebrate ."

"Is the having a party?," Bianca asked.

"Yes," he said. "A small party. Pizza, a movie." The girls squealed. Nicole, who was getting more mature by the day, looked at him with some skepticism.

"Are you and Liza friends?," Nicole asked.

"We are," he said, eyeing her back through the rear view mirror.

"What kind of friends?," she asked.

"Good friends," he said. "Is that OK?"

He wasn't sure what she was getting at or if she was even upset by it.

"I really like Liza," Nicole said. "I'm glad you're friends. You seem happier since you've been friends."

Relief washed over him. He still wrestled with feelings of guilt - you're still married, you jerk, and here you are secretly dating your employee. He even felt bad lying to the girls, or at least not being totally honest with them.

But right now he also felt complete gratitude to his beautiful daughters, who were growing up faster than he would have liked.

"Thank you, Nicole," he said. "I am happier."

And that was that.

Before they went to Liza's he drove them by his old apartment, telling them he lived there many, many years ago.

He picked up ice cream and cake from the store - he let the girls pick out their favorite - knowing that he couldn't show up empty handed, even if he was told he could.

They climbed the steps to Liza's loft and he could tell his daughters were excited. They rang the bell and Maggie answered, wearing a long robe.

"I'm Maggie," she said. Charles went at first to shake her hand but Maggie went in for the hug, and he hugged back.

"These are, uh, my daughters - Nicole and Bianca," he said. Maggie's face lit up. Liza told him how good she was to her own daughter through the years, and he felt immediately comfortable with her.

"I'm Maggie," she said. "We're so happy you guys could come for Liza's birthday!"

When the girls spotted Liza they ran to her. Charles almost laughed. He could tell she was hurting, but he didn't know how to describe to his daughters what it meant to be hungover.

"Happy birthday!," they said, in near unison.

"Hi," he said, as Liza embraced Nicole and Bianca.

"Hey," she said back. They both had big goofy grins on. Once the girls broke away from Liza, she went in to hug him. He pulled her in tight.

"I am so happy you are here," she whispered in his ear. "Me too," he whispered back. They pulled apart, self consciously, but Maggie was wise enough to distract Nicole and Bianca for a bit, bringing them over to her paintings to show them a few.

Charles quickly kissed her when he saw the girls couldn't see them.

"Happy birthday, in person," he said.

The pizza they had ordered was on the kitchen island and Liza - who was now starving - encouraged everyone to eat.

"Ok," she said, forcing herself to sound energetic. "Who wants pizza?"

Everything was easy after that. They ate, they showed the girls the apartment, and then they decided on a movie. Neither of the girls had seen "A Sound of Music" yet and Liza made the final decision to watch it.

It made her think of Caitlin, who had FaceTimed earlier to wish her mom a happy birthday. Introducing it to new people - two girls who she adored - made her happy.

They settled in on the large couch with both girls insisting on sitting next to Liza. Maggie offered wine to Charles, to took a small glass. Liza said she didn't need a hair of the dog, to which the girls wanted to know what that meant.

"Don't worry about that," Charles said, sitting down next to Bianca, who sat next to Liza. "Let's just watch the Von Trapp family."

Halfway through the movie, when the girls were deep into it, Charles wrapped his arm high around the couch and squeezed Liza's shoulder, smiling at her.

She mouthed "thank you."

"Thank you," he mouthed back.

The girls fell asleep in the middle of "Frozen," even though they picked it. Swimming, the drive, the food - it all knocked them out. Charles and Liza covered them up with blankets and walked over to the kitchen, settling in across from each other on the kitchen island.

"Was your birthday everything you imagined?," he asked.

"I'm still a little hungover, but yes - it exceeded it all," she said. "You have no idea how happy I am to have you and the girls over today. Really."

"Nicole was asking about us," he said. "Well, I don't think she knows, but she was really insistent on what kind of friends we are."

"What did you tell her?"

"That we're good friends," he said. "We are good friends!"

"Better than good friends," she said. "Close, personal, intimate friends."

Charles laughed.

"Well, when I tell her that maybe we are more than good friends, we already have Nicole's approval," he said.

"Oh?," Liza asked.

"She said I seemed happier since we became friends," he said. "And she's right."

"You have a very wise daughter," she said. "And I'm happier, too."

"Hey," Charles said. "I had something else for you. For your birthday."

He quietly dashed over to where his coat was, where Maggie was feverishly painting, headphones in.

He pulled out a small wrapped box.

"I don't pretend to understand jewelry," he said. "So I got you something that I do understand. But just, be gentle."

Liza unwrapped it and found a first edition copy of "A Farewell to Arms," the most romantic of Ernest Hemingway's books.

"Oh my God," she said. "Is this -"

"- It was my mother's," he said. "It's been in a box for years and years, and I found it recently and thought you should have it."

"Charles, this is - this is amazing," she said. "I can't take it."

"Please," he said. "I want you to have it.

Liza leaned in across the kitchen island, impulsively. She kissed him.

"Thank you, Charles," she said. He kissed her back.

"Why, darling, I don't live at all when I'm not with you," she said, quoting from the book. Charles smiled.

"Quoting from the book," he said. "You're amazing. Here's mine: 'Oh darling, you will be good to me, won't you? Because we're going to have a strange life.'"