***
For a moment, Brooke let herself believe that things were going to be all right. She didn't like having her future in the hands of someone else, let alone someone she barely knew, but if it got her family out of here, then so be it.
Shouts and screams from downstairs caused Brooke to shift gears. Her feet thudded against the wooden steps as she hurried down.
“Hey, knock it off, you two,” Brooke said.
The yelling didn't stop. Brooke let out an exasperated breath and trudged back down the steps.
“Take it back!” Emily said.
“You shouldn't have taken them!” John said.
“It's not true!”
“You know it's true! Don't pretend like it isn't!”
“What is going on, you two?” Brooke asked.
“John said that I never cared about Dad,” Emily said.
Emily’s eyes started tearing up, and the hardened resolve she had showed just moments earlier started to wash away.
“John, why would you say something like that?” Brooke asked.
“Because it's true! She said that she took Dad's dog tags to school today. She doesn't deserve to have them. She never cared when he was gone. She never worried what could happen to him. The only time she ever did anything was when he came home,” John said.
He was pointing at his sister, his own eyes becoming red. His voice cracked, and his lip quivered.
“I missed him every day! I still miss him!” John said.
Brooke pulled her son close, and John's shoulders shook as sobs left his body. She held him tight and rocked him back and forth.
“I know you miss him, honey. We all do,” Brooke said.
Emily wedged herself between the two of them and buried her face in Brooke's hip.
“We're okay. We're going to be okay,” Brooke said.