She never took a drink.
I asked one question.
“If you were terrified, why were you laughing when you walked in?”
Megan’s face hardened.
She called me unstable.
Mom stepped between us emotionally even if she did not physically move.
She put a hand on my arm and murmured that families sometimes said careless things under stress.
That was when I moved Lily behind me.
Not because I expected anyone to touch her.
Because for the first time that night, I understood that my mother was already trying to reduce what happened into a misunderstanding everyone could smooth over before dessert.
I looked at Officer Ruiz.
“Please record every word,” I said.
His pen stopped for a moment.
Then he continued writing.
Megan demanded to know whether I was seriously trying to turn a family mistake into a police matter.
I reminded her that Lily had been alone for nearly two hours.
