I nearly dialed 911 on the tattooed teenager holding a screaming baby inside an empty 1 AM laundromat. Then his bag tore open, and my stomach sank with utter shame.

respecting the invisible lines.

I nodded.

Rachel gathered Emma gently into her lap.

Emma curled into her without hesitation.

“Nana,” she mumbled.

“I’m here,” I said, sitting beside them.

“Daddy?”

“We’ll call him.”

Rachel held the cool cloth against Emma’s forehead while I called Jackson.

He answered on the first ring.

“What happened?”

“Low fever,” I said. “She’s continue reading …