The playroom had settled into a lower register.
Less running. Blocks spread in smaller clusters. The chair that had been dragged earlier stayed where it was, ignored. Lily leaned over something she was rebuilding from memory.
Kyle sat across from her with his legs stretched out, one foot nudging a loose piece every few seconds without looking. He wasn't waiting to be told anymore. He just did it. Sometimes right. Sometimes not.
Leo sat between them, slightly back, his tablet against his leg. He watched first now. Then acted. Then typed—catching up to his own decisions instead of leading with them.
The structure in front of them was smaller. More stable.
For now.
Arianne stood near the doorway, one shoulder against the frame. Behind her, the hallway. The tablet on the side table. She'd passed it twice already today—once when she came in, once when she went to get water. Each time she'd let her eyes slide past it. Whatever was on it had waited months. It could wait another hour.
