“I didn’t understand what those sweaters meant. Or what you turned them into. I do now.”
Then she walked outside.
We heard the dumpster lid.
When she came back, she was holding the empty wooden box.
She had emptied it.
She held it out to Liam.
“Can we start again?”
He looked at her, then at the box.
For a long moment, nothing moved.
Then he took it.
And hugged her.
A few weeks later, the bunnies were ready again. Not perfect—but whole.
Liam asked Claire to go with him to deliver them.
She did.
He told me later that she stayed beside him the entire time. Not leading, not speaking over him—just present.
The children in the ward held those bunnies tightly.
Because they understood.
On the drive home, Liam leaned his head against the window and said quietly, “Mom would’ve liked that.”
Claire’s hands tightened on the steering wheel.
She didn’t speak.
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