Mason wiped his eyes.
“I laughed once.”
Rebecca looked at him.
“Mason.”
The boy cried harder.
“Grandma said Amelia was eating with Sunny because she was a stray.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
Rebecca whispered:
“Mom, what the hell?”
Margaret’s face hardened defensively.
“It was a joke.”
Daniel opened his eyes.
“No.”
He looked at his nephew.
“Mason, thank you for telling me.”
The boy nodded.
Daniel turned toward Greg.
“Take him home.”
Greg nodded.
No argument.
Rebecca remained rooted.
“Daniel, please.”
“Not tonight.”
“You’re cutting off your entire family.”
“No.”
“I’m protecting mine.”
Rebecca stared.
That sentence landed.
She took Mason’s coat.
Greg gathered their things.
They left without another word.
Margaret remained.
She walked toward the kitchen.
Daniel followed.
“What are you doing?”
“Getting my medication.”
“Fine.”
She opened a cabinet.
Then turned.
“You really believe Noah’s videos tell the whole story?”
“No.”
“Good.”
Daniel’s voice remained calm.
“That’s why I’m going to watch all thirty-seven.”
Margaret’s face changed.
He saw it.
For the first time, fear.
Daniel looked toward the stairs.
“What else is on them?”
“Nothing.”
“Then you have nothing to worry about.”
Margaret grabbed her pill case.
“You think he recorded every moment?”
“No.”
“I think he recorded enough that you’re scared.”
She stared at him.
“Your son has become deceptive.”
“My son became scared enough to hide a phone under his dinner plate.”
“You should be asking why.”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
“I am.”
“He betrayed me.”
“No.”
“He protected his sister.”
“He lied to me.”
“He learned that telling you the truth had consequences.”
Margaret’s hand stopped.
Daniel noticed.
“What did you threaten him with?”
“Nothing.”
He walked closer.
“What did you tell Noah would happen if he told me?”
Margaret said nothing.
Daniel’s phone buzzed.
A message from Noah.
DAD COME UPSTAIRS BEFORE SHE LEAVES.
Daniel looked at Margaret.
“Stay here.”
She laughed.
“You’re ordering your mother now?”
“Yes.”
He went upstairs.
Noah stood in Amelia’s bedroom.
Amelia was under her blanket with Sunny curled beside the bed.
Her eyes were closed.
Not asleep.
Daniel could tell.
Noah held his phone.
“There’s something else.”
Daniel’s stomach tightened.
“What?”
Noah looked toward Amelia.
“Can we go outside?”
They stepped into the hallway.
Noah closed the door gently.
Then looked at his father.
“Grandma told me if I sent you the videos, she’d tell you I was the one hurting Amelia.”
Daniel stared.
“What?”
“She said I was old enough that people would believe I bullied her.”
“Noah.”
“I know it sounds stupid.”
“No.”
Daniel grabbed his son’s shoulders.
“It doesn’t.”
Noah’s eyes filled.
“She said you were already stressed.”