“Your cooking and the chance to fold a hundred baby shirts.”

For once the laughter stayed with us through dinner.

PART 22

The legal process moved much more slowly than our emotions.

Weeks passed while investigators reviewed medical records, interviewed witnesses and compared the messages.

Prosecutors eventually filed charges related to the failure to seek necessary care and the circumstances in which Jenna’s phone had been withheld.

The allegations were contested, and the lawyers reminded us repeatedly that formal charges were not findings of guilt.

Brooke accepted a negotiated resolution involving supervision, counseling and restrictions on contact with our household.