But I also told him running wasn’t going to save them.
He looked at me like I’d just taken away his last option, and maybe I had, but I couldn’t lie to him just to make him feel better. You can’t raise a child on the run. You can’t outrun a system built to track and categorize. Eventually, they would find him, and when they did, it would be worse.
“You have to fight it,” I said. “But not like this.”
He didn’t answer right away. Just looked down at Oliver, then at Rook, who had settled onto his boots like he wasn’t going anywhere.
I stood up, walked to the door, locked it, and flipped the sign to closed. Company policy didn’t mean much in that moment. I brought out blankets, warmed them, made a space for the baby, cooked food for the dog, and then I did the one thing that felt like it might actually help.
