“They said you agreed to this.”
Officer Daniels left the folder open between us.
For a few seconds, I stared at him instead of the paperwork.
I could hear the low hum of the fluorescent lights above the interview room and voices passing somewhere beyond the closed door.
“No,” I said.
“I didn’t.”
He nodded once.
“Tell me exactly what happened last night.”
So I did.
I told him about dinner.
Ryan announcing Madison’s pregnancy.
My parents celebrating.
Mom turning to me and deciding, without asking, that I would handle the children when the baby arrived.
I repeated Madison’s words exactly.
“You don’t even have a family of your own.
Just consider this your training.”
Officer Daniels didn’t react dramatically.
He simply wrote it down.
Then I told him what I had said.
“Absolutely not.”
“You were clear?”
“Completely.”
“You didn’t later change your mind?”
“No.”
“Did you go to their house this morning?”
“No.”
“Did you tell anyone you would?”
“No.”
He turned a page in the folder.
“The oldest child told the responding officer that Mom and Dad left early and said Aunt Olivia was coming.”
My throat tightened.
“How early?”
“Before sunrise.”
I pressed both hands flat against the table.
The picture formed slowly, and I hated every piece of it.
Ryan and Madison hadn’t misunderstood me.
They had heard me say no.
They had left anyway.
Officer Daniels continued carefully.
“A neighbor saw one of the children outside later and realized there was no adult present.
That’s when police were called.”
“Were they hurt?”
“No injuries were reported.”
Relief hit first, so hard that I nearly sagged in the chair.
Then came anger.
Not because the children had needed me.
Because the adults responsible for them had apparently gambled on the idea that I would rush in and erase the consequences, exactly as I always had.
“Where are they now?” I asked.
“The children are safe.
We have them with appropriate personnel while we determine who can legally take responsibility.”
I nodded.
Then he asked, “Would you be willing to take them temporarily?”
That question hurt more than I expected.
Four children I loved were caught in the middle of something they hadn’t created.
Every instinct trained into me over eight years screamed yes.
Go fix it.
