She had earned the right to say it.

Then quick footsteps sounded behind her.

A little boy appeared in the hallway wearing red pajama pants and a navy sweatshirt with a silver rocket across the front.

He was carrying a homemade cardboard star, one point bent slightly where the tape had come loose.

“Mom, it fell off again,” he announced.

He stopped when he saw me.

I stopped breathing properly.

The child’s eyes were an unusual blue-gray.