Emma learned early that peace in that house meant swallowing the truth. If Khloe cried first, Khloe won. If their mother sighed, everyone adjusted around her. If their father turned up the television, the conversation was over.
By the time Emma married Marcus, she had built an entire life around not needing them. Marcus was steady where her family was slippery. He listened. He remembered. He did not make Emma earn kindness.
The pregnancies changed everything. After two miscarriages, Emma stopped announcing good news too early. She stopped buying tiny clothes before the second trimester. She stopped letting herself imagine a nursery until hope felt safer than grief.
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