Lauren went white.
Chris shot to his feet.
“What are you talking about?”
Mom covered her mouth.
Dad said, “This has gone far enough.”
Lauren looked at him.
“You knew?”
He nodded once.
She turned to Mom.
“Why would I lose custody?”
Mom said nothing.
Lauren took a step forward.
“Mom.”
“I found the paperwork.”
“What paperwork?”
“In your desk.”
“You went through my desk?”
“There were letters.”
Chris frowned.
“What letters?”
Mom whispered, “From the attorney.”
Lauren stared at her.
Then something changed in Lauren’s face.
Not fear.
Recognition.
“Oh.”
Chris looked at her.
“Lauren?”
She sat slowly.
I had never seen my sister look like that.
She folded her hands.
Then looked at me.
“I was going to tell you after Christmas.”
“Tell me what?”
Her eyes filled.
“Chris and I are separating.”
My anger vanished beneath shock.
Chris looked away.
Lauren continued.
“We’ve been meeting with attorneys. Quietly.”
Mom said, “You were discussing custody schedules.”
Lauren snapped, “Yes, because that is what divorcing parents do.”
“I saw ‘primary custody.’”
Chris stared at Mom.
“You thought I was taking the kids?”
Mom said nothing.
Lauren laughed bitterly.
“Oh my God.”
Dad sat down heavily.
Mom looked between them.
“Chris’s company is unstable. His father is sick. Lauren is exhausted. Somebody needed to think ahead.”
“No,” I said.
She turned to me.
“You needed to control what happened next.”
“I was protecting all of you.”
“You built an entire future without asking a single person who had to live in it.”
Her face tightened.
“I am your mother.”
“That doesn’t make you the author.”
The room went silent.
Then Ava appeared on the stairs.
Again.
Always listening.
Always understanding more than anyone thought.
“Are Mom and Dad getting divorced?”
Lauren closed her eyes.
Chris crossed the room immediately.
“Ava—”
