Tessa's reply is immediate.Stability isn't the same as connection.
I set the phone down.
I don't respond.
Tessa is doing her job. ERS doesn't stop at the ceremony. They monitor outcomes. Adjust. Intervene when necessary.
But her message feels uncomfortably accurate.
***
Henry appears in the doorway of my office an hour later, already in pajamas.
"Can I ask you something?" he says.
I gesture for him to come in. He doesn't sit. He stands near the edge of the desk, hands stuffed in his pockets.
"Is Lindsay going to CAMICon?" he asks.
I hesitate. "We haven't finalized anything."
Henry nods slowly, processing. "She said she was planning to go. Before. When she still worked for you."
"Things have changed," I say carefully.
"I know." Henry shifts his weight. "But she still wants to go. She told me she's level 84 in New Age of Legends."
That detail catches me off guard. I didn't know Lindsay played video games. I didn't know she and Henry had discussed it.
"You talked about this?" I ask.
"Yeah." Henry's expression is cautious, like he's testing whether this is allowed. "She knows about the expansion pack announcement. She's excited about it."
I lean back in my chair, recalibrating.
CAMICon is a risk. Crowds. Exposure. Lindsay's face is still fresh in the news cycle. Taking Henry into that environment feels reckless.
But Henry is looking at me like this matters. Not because he wants to go—though he does—but because Lindsay wants to go, and he wants to share that with her.
"I'll think about it," I say.
Henry nods, satisfied for now. "Okay."
He turns to leave, then pauses at the door. "Dad?"
"Yes?"
"Lindsay's nice," he says. "I'm glad she's here."
The words are simple. Earnest. Completely unguarded.
I don't answer right away.
I don't know how.
"I'm glad too," I say finally. The words feel unfamiliar.
Henry smiles—small, but real—and disappears down the hall.
