Henry colored the branches green.

Wyatt ate the crackers meant for the group.

I sat down and told them that there were relatives they had not met and that some of those relationships were complicated.

Mason looked at me, unsatisfied.

“Complicated is what grown-ups say when they don’t want to answer.”

He wasn’t wrong.

I explained that my mother had made choices that kept Lauren and me apart and that the boys had every right to feel whatever they felt about those choices.

I didn’t describe threats or forged papers.