“He was ready to be thrown away by this family, but he was willing to hang on through four more weeks just to make sure his mother was well enough to manage once he was gone.”

Gretchen bowed her head and stared down at her manicure in uncomfortable shame, while Peter fell apart completely, burying his face in his arms on the counter and crying openly.

“He was willing to give up his whole childhood for this family, Peter, while you were working out how much money you’d save by throwing him away,” I said, letting the judgment settle over them both.

Peter got up suddenly from the island, went over to the wide kitchen window and stared out at the backyard with his back to us for several long minutes.