She looked down.
"No."
He waited.
Then she whispered, "Just when the good glasses are clean."
He glanced toward the cupboard.
The glasses were ordinary drinking glasses purchased from a discount home store.
There was nothing special about them.
"Who told you that?"
She shifted from one foot to the other.
"Can I just use this one?"
He felt his stomach tighten.
"Of course."
She filled the cup.
Then she returned to the living room.
The father followed more slowly.
He sat beside the children again.
But he could no longer focus on the movie.
He began noticing things he had previously overlooked.
His daughter kept her feet together on the floor.
The boy sprawled comfortably across the couch.
When he reached for the blanket, his daughter offered it to him immediately.
The boy accepted without thinking.
When the father asked whether anyone wanted popcorn, his daughter said no before he finished speaking.
The boy asked for some.
The father looked at the girl.
"You sure?"
She nodded.
"I'm okay."
He studied her.
She wasn't looking at the popcorn.
She was looking toward the kitchen doorway.
The father followed her gaze.
His wife stood there.
Her expression was tight.
"Can we talk?"
He turned back to the children.
"Finish your movie. I'll be right back."
His daughter immediately sat straighter.
"Are we in trouble?"
The father felt a sharp ache behind his ribs.
"No, sweetheart."
He knelt in front of her.
"Neither of you is in trouble."
The boy looked toward his mother.
She said nothing.
The father gently squeezed his daughter's hand.
"Nothing that happened tonight is your fault."
She stared at him.
Then she nodded.
But he could tell she didn't believe him yet.
And that realization hurt more than he expected.
His wife was waiting in their bedroom.
The moment he closed the door, she turned on him.
"Have you lost your mind?"
He remained near the doorway.
"Keep your voice down."
"Don't tell me to keep my voice down. You humiliated me in front of my own son."
The father stared at her.