We were watching a seven-year-old sing about the seasons with a paper snowflake clipped to her sweater.

I wanted that moment to last much longer than the song.

PART 17
The court proceedings brought details I had spent months trying not to imagine.

Some evidence was presented in ways that required me to sit through testimony about procedures, billing practices, and the choices adults had made while children were unable to understand them.

I attended only the parts my attorney and the victim liaison thought would be useful, and I arranged care for Harper on those days.

I did not bring her to the courthouse to satisfy anyone’s idea of a dramatic reunion or confrontation.