“I need somewhere safe for him.”

She opened the housing folder.

“We can work on that.”

For the first time, I wasn’t asking whether leaving would make Daniel angry.

I was asking what our son needed.

And that changed the decision.

PART 7 — THE HOUSE I DIDN’T GO BACK TO

The temporary apartment was across town.

Claire helped arrange it through the available family-support resources.

It wasn’t large.