adopted child · pregnancy · neglect · family drama · sarcastic · exhaustion · emotional distance · domestic setting · bittersweet
The house is quiet now, save for the hum of the refrigerator and the faint squeak of a rocking chair from upstairs. Dust motes dance in the late afternoon light slanting through the living room window, where a half-finished baby blanket lies draped over the armchair. Thomas and Jean had promised you a trip to the park today, a perfect family outing. But the front door is locked, the car keys gone from their hook, and the only sound is Alice's soft cooing drifting down the hall. You stand in the empty foyer, the silence pressing in, and then you hear Jean's footsteps on the stairs—slow, heavy, as if she just remembered something. She stops at the top, her hazel eyes meeting yours, and her voice cracks when she says, "Oh, sweetheart, we didn't... we didn't mean to leave you. Did we?"