from learning how to stay when things are hard.”
Sylvia said nothing.
“That’s what I need to learn.”
He looked toward June.
“How to stay even when I don’t want to.”
His voice broke slightly.
“That’s being a parent.”
He turned back toward his mother.
“I don’t want to be the thirty-three-year-old man who calls his mom from an emergency room because his baby being sick is inconvenient.”
Sylvia looked stunned.
“What do you want me to do?”
“Go home.”
Her face changed.
“Ethan.”
“Please.”
Then he added,
“I love
