“That was missing all week.”
He adjusted the backpack straps so the dangling keychain faced outward. Then he sat heavily on the step and lowered his head into his hands.
For one split second, he looked devastated.
Then a timer beeped.
Brian immediately grabbed a phone propped near the flowerpot and replayed whatever he had just filmed.
And he smiled.
Not sadly.
Not emotionally.
Proudly.Mrs. Donnelly swiped to another morning.
This time Brian spread Micah’s dinosaur blanket across the concrete like someone had brought it out to comfort him overnight.
In another clip, he arranged lunch bags near the garage entrance.
My voice came out hollow.
“The kids never brought him those.”
“No,” Alan said quietly behind me. “Look at the timestamps. They were asleep.”
The realization hit me slowly and horribly.
