She asked about Mason’s routine.

Lauren described school, soccer practice, library visits, his fear of thunder, and the way he sometimes worried that people wouldn’t return after long absences.

She explained that she had always answered questions about his father truthfully but in general terms: his father had served in the military and wasn’t part of their daily life.

She had avoided telling him that his father had knowingly refused him because she hadn’t been sure it was true.

I listened and wrote notes.