“Mom!”
“I’m fine.”
Michael stood beside his sister.
My children were both in their thirties, but in that moment I saw the children they had once been.
Claire looked frightened.
Michael looked ready to tackle Samuel off my porch.
“Inside,” I told them.
Samuel raised one hand.
“I came to talk.”
“You came to my home after forcing your way into the storage unit.”
“I didn’t force anything.”
“You attacked Daniel.”
Daniel stepped beside me.
Samuel barely glanced at him.
Instead, he looked at Claire.
“Ask your daughter.”
The air changed.
I turned.
Claire’s face had gone white.
“Ask her what?”
Samuel said nothing.
“Claire?”
My daughter’s eyes filled with tears.
“Mom…”
My heart began pounding.
“What?”
She looked at Samuel.
Then at Daniel.
Finally at me.
“I’ve seen him before.”
Daniel frowned.
“Samuel?”
Claire nodded.
“When?”
She wiped her eyes.
“At Dad’s f/u/
