In the waiting room, Felicity Ramsy sat close to her husband, Owen Booker. Jemima and Arlo were curled into their parents, small hands gripping their parents' sleeves, sensing the heaviness even if they didn't fully understand it.
Mabel was beside her brother, Jacob, her voice slow and measured as she spoke about their mother's condition. Her husband, Graham Sanford, sat slightly apart, quiet enough that he almost blended into the background. Vivian and Cora were unusually subdued. Vivian's eyes were faintly red. She had been scolded earlier, and the sting still lingered. Cora looked lost, shoulders slightly hunched, as if this was her first real encounter with the idea of losing someone.
A little farther away, Willow, Aria, and Darcy were bickering in low voices over something trivial, their argument more teasing than hostility.
And in the middle of it all, Clyde's eyes found him instantly.
