An eight-year-old girl sleeps alone, but every morning she complains that her bed feels “too small.” When her mother checks the security camera at 2 a.m., she breaks down in silent tears….

She hesitated. “Because it felt like someone was lying next to me.”

I forced a calm smile. “You must have been dreaming. I slept with Dad all night.”

But from that moment, I couldn’t sleep either.

I spoke to my husband, Michael Collins, a surgeon who often came home late and exhausted. He listened, then smiled gently.

“Kids imagine things. The house is secure.”