hellooo. Good to see you are keeping the faith, BD. I guess we all lose it, find it, relose it, refind it. Seems to be the pattern around here :-) Seems to me you had a good conversation. I liked what you said: "although I fully understand we are not getting back together, I am not sure I can push aside my feelings for him and have him there". honest, loving and boundary setting at the same time. Being the one to get off the phone first or ending texts, is a good thing. I think your H is going to be riding a rollercoaster of feelings - a lot of remourse and doubting - as the birth approaches. So expect him to start wanting more contact, which meeans you really need to hone your boundaries based on your values and being true and caring to yourself. You need to be the one in control, making the decisions, drawing the lines.
Dont feel silly about thinking of your H and vice versa as soulmates. You know the quality of what you had - it is real, you weren't imagining it.
The thing is your H is just not able to be in the marriage right now..for whatever reason .. and wants out. Let him go in order for him to come back..and my only last thought is don't let that good communication between you become a form of cake-eating..keep an eye on it. Does that sound harsh? I think you have to match your optimism/hope with a good plan and a bit strategy.
Puppy talks a lot about having a plan, and a backup plan. Maybe look up some of his posts.
