Nora smiled gently. “Then I’ll start with the kitchen.”

She noticed photos taped to the refrigerator. Maribel cooking. Maribel resting in a hospital bed. Maribel holding Lena.

Grief was not hidden here. It lived openly.

Ezoic

Nora cooked banana pancakes shaped like animals, following a handwritten note tucked into a drawer. She set the plate down and walked away.

When she returned, Lena was eating quietly, eyes wide with surprise.

The twins tested her next.

Ezoic

A rubber toy appeared in the mop bucket. Nora examined it calmly.

“Very realistic,” she said. “But fear needs meaning. You’ll have to try harder.”

They stared at her, unsettled.

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