She had opportunities to discuss the process with the people representing her interests and to make her views known.

She asked careful questions about what an agreement would establish and whether she would have to testify at a public trial.

“I don’t want him saying afterward that nobody proved anything,” she said.

The attorney explained what admissions a guilty plea required.

She also explained that avoiding a trial did not mean the harm had never happened.

I watched Hannah listen while rocking Lily’s carrier lightly with her foot.

She was deciding how to move through a process built around something she wanted to stop remembering.