“It’s okay,” I told Leo, into his hair, keeping my voice level though my heart was slamming.

“It’s okay.

I’ve got you.

I’m not letting go.” I meant it as the small automatic reassurance any mother gives.

I did not yet know that it was the truest and most important sentence of my life, or that the entire day was about to become a lesson, taught to a five-year-old, in exactly who does and does not let go.

Chapter 5 — Dad, Please Stay