She had hoped a stable apartment would erase the weeks in Bluebird as quickly as they had begun.

The teacher was kind but honest: children did not always recover from uncertainty at the same speed as adults.

Hannah met with the school counselor and arranged a predictable pickup plan.

She explained to Sophie what would happen on each day of the week, wrote emergency contact names on a small card, and practiced what Sophie could do if plans changed.

“Am I in trouble for crying?” Sophie asked that night.