If I had to take any optimistic outlook on this it would be that since the timing of the author's hiatus' seems to be whenever the next stage of development is starting, they're probably trying to make sure they get it right. I feel like whenever they've come back from hiatus recently the content always progresses the story in some way.
I don't doubt they started this just on the concept without thinking about the relationship in the long-term (like many series seem to, due in part to mangaka having no idea how long they'll even be able to run the series), and I feel like the fact that they're taking the time to stop and think about things when they have no idea what to do next shows when the chapters start coming out again.
TL;DR: I'd like to think this is the author doing a quality over quantity deal.