“Oh boy,” Antonio said.

“Oh boy is right,” Kenzie said, her voice about as small as she felt. “I didn’t know—I don’t know how this happened.”

“A lot of people, they go to this because it happened to them.”

“It didn’t happen to me.”

“Then where on earth did you get this idea from?”

She was back in her room. Her phone was over there. She could point it out, explain it, but—

“Kids talking at school.”

“Oh Kenzie, hon. There’s no need. Personal space is personal space, and that’s just for him and me, because we’re married, understand?”

She nodded, firm. Her heart was still pounding, and she had a sick feeling in her middle.

“I think—and I’ll ask Keith, but I think it would help everyone if we talked to an expert on these things. What do you think? Can’t hurt, right?”

She shook her head. “Can’t hurt.”

“I think I’ll look into that first thing tomorrow, then. Can I give you a hug?”

She nodded. A hug was the best thing in the world when she felt as horrible inside as she did now. It almost made the horribleness melt away.

He kissed her on the forehead. “Scoot down. I’ll tuck you in.”

She scooted. He tucked her in.

She didn’t sleep.

⊙

“My favorite person ever wouldn’t make eye contact with me,” Kenzie said. Her legs kicked where they dangled from her chair. Her toes scuffed the ground. “The next appointment Anton—that was his nickname in the house—that he could get, it was a week from the incident.”

“What happened?” Victoria asked. “It didn’t help?”

“They weren’t talking in the usual spots where I might be able to eavesdrop, and for the first time since I got there, Keith was going to work instead of working from home. It meant they were talking on the phone, everyone was more distant, and there was this big meeting with a therapist and child services to talk about things, coming at me like a big train.”

Kenzie flicked through scenes. Diorama images of her with the phone. Her with the baby monitor that Keith and Anton had kept in case they ended up fostering a baby.

“I just wanted to know what was going on. So I downloaded the same app they used to lock down my phone and watch my browsing. I put it on their phone and I hid that application like the teenager from school hid the icon on mine. I didn’t control his browsing, but I did make it so I could watch their texts.”

⊙

She’d set herself as parent, and consequently, the helicopter app let her monitor where Keith was.

She opened the door as he pulled into the driveway. He seemed startled to see her there so suddenly.

“Hey, Kenz,” he said.

There wasn’t the same heart in the words that there had been in the early days. No hug at the door.

A hand on the shoulder, instead.