Gladys picked up Mia’s stuffed rabbit and hugged it to her chest.
“The little girl gave me her room,” she said. “I can’t sleep without this.”
My eyes snapped toward Kyle.
“You made Mia sleep in the kitchen?”
“No,” he answered immediately.
“She’s lying on the floor right now.”
Before he could explain, Gladys walked into the hallway. When she saw Mia sleeping in the kitchen, she smiled and carefully adjusted the blanket around her.
“Thank you for sharing,” she whispered.
Mia opened her eyes.
“Hi, Grandma.”
The word echoed through my mind.
Mia sat up and hugged the woman as though they had known each other for years.
“Did you have another bad dream?” she asked.
Gladys nodded.
“I couldn’t find Kyle.”
“I’m right here, Mom,” Kyle said gently.
Only after Gladys calmed down did Mia notice me.
“Mom! You’re home.”
I hugged her tightly.
“What is happening?”
Mia glanced toward her father.
“Dad was going to tell you.”
“When?”
“When you came home.”
“I am home.”
After Kyle helped Gladys return to the bedroom, Mia began folding her blanket.
“You should be sleeping upstairs,” I said.
“I’ve been sleeping here since Grandma arrived.”
My anger rose instantly.
“You’ve spent four nights on the kitchen floor?”
“It was my idea.”
“No twelve-year-old chooses this.”
Mia lowered her voice.
“Grandma wakes up frightened. If she can’t see someone nearby, she panics.”
“Why did she take your room?”
“Because she thinks it belongs to her.”
Kyle returned looking exhausted. Dark circles surrounded his eyes, and his clothes were wrinkled.
“When were you planning to tell me that your mother had returned?”
“I only found out four days ago.”
He explained that police officers had found Gladys wandering outside a grocery store. She could not remember where she lived, but something inside her purse eventually led them to Kyle.
He had believed for his entire life that she had willingly left him.
“I didn’t even recognize her,” he admitted. “Thirty years changes someone.”
I asked why he had not called me. He showed me his damaged phone—missed calls, failed video calls, and messages that had never gone through because I had been traveling overseas.
Still, I felt he should have found another way.
“I wanted to tell you,” he said. “But every hour, I discovered something that made less sense.”
“What do you mean?”
