“I know.”
“You should have told us the day your childcare fell through and asked to cancel.”
Laura’s face crumpled. “I know.”
It was the same answer, but it kept changing under the weight of each accusation. At first defensive, then ashamed, then just true.
Daniel rubbed both hands over his face.
“We can’t undo what happened.”
“No,” Laura whispered.
“But Noah is alive.”
That sentence settled into the room with careful heaviness. Not forgiveness. Not absolution. Just fact.
Megan looked at Laura for a long moment, and when she spoke again her voice had shifted.
“Emma didn’t mean to hurt him.”
Laura nodded through tears. “She feels horrible.”
Megan’s own eyes filled again.
“She’s a little girl,” she said. “And little girls do dangerous things when adults don’t protect the room correctly.”
Laura bowed her head.
“But we can’t trust her around him again,” Megan finished. “We can’t trust you around him again.”
Laura closed her eyes and nodded.
“I understand.”
And she did.
