I Was 29 and Single When I Fought to Keep Five Siblings Together. The Judge Asked Why, and My Answer Changed Everything.

Judge Harrington recessed to review the options.

During the break, I sat in the corridor beside Lucas.

We didn’t talk much.

I offered him a granola bar and he broke it into five pieces before eating one himself.

‘You can have a whole one,’ I told him.

‘What if they want some?’

‘There are more in my bag.’

He looked at me with suspicion, as if abundance were a trick.