“No. Freezing is a moment. This has been seven months.”
He had no answer.
Diane appeared behind him.
“This is exactly the attitude I was concerned about.”
I looked past Ethan.
“My attitude.”
“You return after nine months expecting everyone to reorganize around you.”
I felt something inside me settle.
Not rage.
Clarity.
“Diane, you and Megan will need to leave.”
Her expression changed.
“This is my son’s home too.”
“Yes.”
“You cannot throw out his family.”
“I am not discussing your legal status in a hallway. I am telling you that I do not consent to this arrangement continuing. We will follow whatever notice is required, and you will make plans to live somewhere else.”
She laughed sharply.
“Ethan, say something.”
He looked at her.
Then at me.
This was the moment I knew would decide more than where Diane slept.
He took a breath.
“Mom, Laura is right.”
Diane’s face went still.
Megan appeared behind her.
“You knew?” Diane asked him.
“I knew this had gone too far.”
“And you let me make a fool of myself?”
Ethan flinched.
“No. I let Laura come home to a house that did not feel like hers. That is what I did.”
