Lucas’s face crumpled, though he tried to stop it.

‘I need somebody else to remember all that.’

That was the moment my knees felt unsteady.

Patricia asked permission to speak.

She described how Lucas checked each sibling before allowing himself to rest, and how he had begun, cautiously, to hand some of that responsibility to me.

The children still had significant needs.

A rushed, unsupported adoption would not solve them.

But she supported a short, supervised placement if the outstanding safety requirements were completed before the children entered the home.