My pulse rose when I described Vivian taking Leo.

I asked for a moment.

The court allowed one.

Being a judge had not trained me out of having a body that remembered fear.

I drank water and continued.

I did not describe the case as proven by my standing.

I identified my refusal, what I observed, and what the records supported.

Where I knew something from Karen or Daniel rather than my own observation, I said so.