“Shh, it’s okay, sweetheart,” he says. He rubs his hand over her head, smoothing down some of the hair. She sticks out her bottom lip and falls into him, pulling up the blanket to cover more of her face.

“For her,” Lynell says. The words fly from her throat easier than she expected. “Please leave for her.”

Zoe looks between Lynell and Anna. She reaches out and grabs Josh’s shoulder. He seems to concede, dropping his head and looking down at Anna, rubbing his thumb along her arm.

“I believe you,” Zoe says. “I do.”

Lynell relaxes and steps back, trying to keep herself from staring at Anna. “Good. Thank you.”

“Tonight. You need to leave now,” Daniel says.

Josh frowns and looks like he’s going to argue, but Lynell holds up her bandaged hand. Anna’s gaze darts between them, thumb returning to her mouth. “Please,” she says. “Go tonight.”

Daniel sits at the kitchen table, where he retreated after Josh refused his offer to help pack. The dog is inside now, a black lab named Tonks, and sits calmly next to Daniel, who hasn’t stopped petting her since Zoe let her inside.

Anna sits on Zoe’s hip with her head resting on her shoulder, thumb still firmly in her mouth, while they talk. She blinks slowly, staring at Lynell as Zoe bounces her.

“And what about you two?” Zoe finally asks. “Will you be safe? There are still a few days left on the Registration. People can still kill you and go scot-free.”

Daniel scratches Tonks’s ear and opens his mouth to reply, but Lynell beats him to it. “We don’t know. But we’ll figure it out.”

Zoe nods and kisses Anna’s forehead. “Do you want to hold her?” she asks.

“What?” Lynell says, eyebrows shooting up. She looks at Anna, who doesn’t seem to react to the question.

“Can Lynell hold you, sweetheart?” Zoe asks.

Lynell watches with wide eyes and a racing heart as Anna looks between Zoe and Lynell. Her eyes are bright, glassy with sleep, but she stares at Lynell intently before nodding and holding out her hands.

“Really?” Lynell whispers. Her voice is rough, and she can feel her heartbeat in her hands. When Zoe nods with an encouraging smile, Lynell reaches out with one hand and Zoe helps transfer Anna to Lynell’s hip. Anna rests one arm on Lynell’s shoulder and keeps the other one holding her small blanket against her chest.

“I got Piggy,” she says, looking up at Lynell and holding up the blanket.

“Oh?” Lynell answers. Her arm tightly wraps around Anna. “Is this Piggy?” she asks, touching the corner of the blanket.

Anna nods. “Aunt Jane gave me.”

“Gave her to me,” Zoe says.

Lynell smiles. “That was very nice of Aunt Jane.”

“I love Aunt Jane,” Anna says before returning her thumb to her mouth. Zoe rolls her eyes and gently pulls Anna’s hand away.

“We’ve been trying to stop the thumb-sucking for a month now. So far, we haven’t gotten anywhere. She hates pacifiers.” She says it all while watching Anna, her small fingers rubbing the back of Zoe’s hand. Lynell looks at her daughter, who calls someone else mom, and suddenly feels like her heart is going to explode.