"Hey, could you take JJ to the bookstore? She wants some new books," Amara asked, standing in Josh's doorway.
He looked up at her for a long moment, and whatever he saw in her face the effort behind the smile, the tightness she couldn't quite smooth all the way out made the refusal die in his throat before it started.
"Alright, Mum," he said simply, no argument at all, closing his laptop and grabbing his jacket.
Amara stood at the top of the stairs and watched the two of them head down together, JJ already chattering about which series she wanted to finish, Josh nodding along with more patience than he usually bothered to show her.
She waited until she heard the front door close, until she heard the car pull out of the driveway and fade down the street, before she finally turned back down the hall toward Justina's room, ready, at last, to have the conversation she'd been putting off for exactly as long as she safely could.
