That is what love usually looks like, the rushing in, the taking over, the doing it for them.

But Caleb understood something subtler and harder, which is that sometimes the most loving thing you can do for a child is to not do it for them, to stand close enough that they know they are not alone and far enough back that the victory remains fully their own.

He had decided that Chloe needed to be the one who acted, because she was the one who had been made powerless, and being the one who acted was the only thing that would give the power back.

So he stood behind her and he let her do the hard thing herself, and he made his whole large presence into nothing more than a promise: I am here, and I am not going anywhere, and you are safe to be brave.