Then came their joint tattoo session, but not before their first kiss. “We were excited and dizzy,” said Ms. Thompson.
After that, Wednesday became their regular date night at the Mean Eyed Cat. They also started taking the kids on regular trips—to the paddling pool in the park, on picnics, or to the pool at Mrs. Thompson’s apartment complex just outside of Austin.
Mid-July 2019: “We’ve made the relationship official,” said Ms. Thompson.
In December, they split for about a month, the first of three divorces. “Jeni needed some space, but we were still in touch,” said Ms. Thompson.
Said Ms. Pandolfi, “I’m a typical casual person.”
“But I didn’t want to lose her,” she added.
The following year, after a week-long split in June 2020, the two got another set of tattoos in October featuring the flowers of their and their children’s birth month: Mrs. Pandolfi’s including roses, for her and Beau, and Mrs. Thompson’s including lily of the valley, for Juniper, and marigold for itself.
Weeks later, on November 11, 2020, she proposed to Ms. Pandolfi at a local Airbnb—a converted garage where Ms. Thompson set out battery-powered candles, red wine, and cured meats.
In 2021, after a break from February to June, Ms. Thompson wed on November 11, a year to the day after Ms. Pandolfi had proposed to her. At the Sekrit Theater, an Austin event space, Ms. Pandolfi had set up a marquee in a greenhouse that read, “Marry me.”