I had been gone for five days, but nothing prepared me for what I saw when I opened the door: my wife juggling dinner and our sick toddler, while my mother and sister sat nearby on their phones.

her phone into her pocket and stormed toward the door. Patricia followed behind her with fury burning across her face.

At the doorway she turned back one final time.

“When you calm down, you’ll apologize.”

Ethan held the door wide open.

“When Lauren gets one first,” he said, “maybe I’ll answer your call.”

Then he shut the door behind them.

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