Hi, I'm having a fair bit of anxiety over a new relationship and would welcome your thoughts on it! I separated from my husband 4 years ago after being with him for 18 years and having two children. It was a painful breakup and I suffered from depression and got a life threatening illness which was probably caused by all the stress. I had to break it up as my husband wasn't willing to save our relationship and has mental health issues. I had been miserable in the relationship for a few years before the split and our sex life and affection had dwindled to nothing. We now get on reasonably amicably and try to do the best for our children but we haven't gone through divorce yet. Two years ago I started to feel very lonely but strong and positive enough to start dating. I tried online dating and went on a couple of dates. Then I got chatting to a Dad at one of my kid's swimming classes. We got on well and there was a spark between us. We had a mutual friend who encouraged us to date and we did some dance classes together for about 6 weeks before lockdown. I felt very attracted to him and we had some pretty intense conversations. He had come out of a very upsetting relationship with a woman who was basically an unfit mother from the sounds and the children would have been taken into care. He ended up getting full custody of his child and step children and so, what with working full time and being the children's only provider, he really has his hands full. This is long-winded but wanted to give an impression of the kind of people we are. Anyway by Autumn last year, after going on lots of walks in lockdown, we finally got it together. Our sexual chemistry is amazing, the best I've ever experienced, and I find him kind and considerate, but I find myself getting very anxious that our relationship won't last, because there are too many barriers to us spending much quality time together. I am still trying to save up to buy my ex out of the house and my boyfriend won't have me stay over at his house unless his kids are visiting their mother, which is once in a blue moon. I gave up work to homeschool in lockdown, so once they went back to school was able to see my boyfriend once or twice a week, but I'm about to start a new full time job. My boyfriend told me once, that "he'd been feeling a lot of love for me" but has never said "I love you". This made me think that he's unsure and so I held back from saying it myself in case it scared him off and to make sure I wasn't just in the lust stage. However, I feel that I am very much in love with him, but don't want to get hurt again. Recently he told me that his family were having a big get together, but thought it was a bit early because of Covid and that I would find it overwhelming meeting his quite large family all at once. But he didn't give me the option! I thought it was odd that he told me about it at all if he didn't want me to go. I should have said that I'd love to go if he wanted me to, but it didn't really sink in at the time, we ended up talking about something else. Afterwards when I thought about it, it really made me feel anxious that along with the other obstacles, he's not serious about our relationship, although he does talk about stuff he'd like us to do in the future and he has told friends and family about me and I have met his children. I understand it's a big thing for him to be in a relationship - he's been single for 6 years and been through a lot of shit and apparently wasn't looking for a relationship when he met me, but does it sound like we have a future, or should I walk away before I get even more invested? Thanks.