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.

“I’m so sorry.”

Lauren covered her mouth.

Then finally, after holding herself together for days, she broke down crying.

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Noah’s fever scared Ethan far more than the argument had.

Anger was easy.

Seeing his child limp with exhaustion and burning hot against his chest was not.

“How high?” he asked quietly.

Lauren wiped her eyes quickly.

“An hour continue reading …