“Unless you’re planning to live on whatever Josie leaves behind.”
He glanced at his sister.
Josie was already watching us.
“I eat everything,” she said proudly. “You won’t have leftovers.”
It felt ordinary.
That was probably what made it so important.
He glanced at his sister.
***
A few weeks later, Rebecca called to say the placement was moving forward.
We brought both of them home.
Josie cried the first night.
Then the second.
Then the fourth.
We brought both of them home.
Sometimes she woke up screaming for Jace, and he would appear in her doorway before Daniel or I could even get out of bed.
“I’m here,” he would tell her. “You’re okay.”
He never mentioned that Daniel and I were there, too.
I noticed.
I tried not to take it personally.
Sometimes she woke up screaming
But one morning, Josie woke before him and wandered into our room instead.
She climbed between Daniel and me without asking and fell asleep again.
When Jace found her there, he stopped in the doorway.
For once, he didn’t immediately call her back to him.
He just stood there for a second, then quietly walked away.
When Jace found her there, he stopped in the doorway.
Jace was harder to read.
He was polite. Almost painfully polite. He never asked for anything, ate whatever I cooked, and kept his room unnaturally neat.
After a week, I realized why.
He hadn’t unpacked.
Jace was harder to read.
His clothes were still inside two duffel bags.
His books remained in his backpack.
His shoes sat beside his suitcase.
“You know you can use the dresser,” I told him one afternoon. “And the closet.”
“Okay.”
But he didn’t move.
His clothes were still inside two duffel bags.
I wanted to ask why.
Instead, I let it go.
Something told me pushing him would only make him zip the bags tighter.
After that, I stopped mentioning them.
But every few days, I found myself checking.
I wanted to ask why.
The bags never moved.
