Character Q&A Couples’ Edition: Lauryn and Asher

I meet Lauryn and Asher inside a cozy bookstore café in Brooklyn, where the smell of freshly brewed coffee mingles with that unmistakable scent of new books. Shelves stretch high along the walls surrounding the café, while mismatched armchairs and small wooden tables fill the reading area. The low hum of conversation blends with the occasional hiss of the espresso machine and the turning of pages.

Asher sits across from me with their daughter, Eres, comfortably settled in his arms. Every so often, Lauryn reaches over from her armchair to pinch one of Eres’s round cheeks, earning a babble from their baby girl and an amused look from her husband.

“The bookstore is like our second home,” Lauryn says, getting comfortable in her chair. “I’m just about done with the romance fiction section.”

“Way ahead of me.” Asher laughs. “But once finals are out of the way, I’ll be binging a few I have on reserve.”

With Eres happily entertaining herself in her father’s lap and her parents settled in, I get started.