Then I looked down at Rory.
She had migrated, in the last ninety seconds, approximately three inches deeper into my shoulder. I genuinely didn't know how. I hadn't felt her move. She was just more on me now, occupying more real estate, utterly unbothered, sleeping with the confidence of someone who had decided this shoulder was hers and was not entertaining counterarguments.
Kids were genuinely a different species.
Different operating system entirely. While I was standing here running approximately forty-seven mental tabs — security grid, ARIA's drone coordinates, Eziel's financial timeline, whether Rory's breathing rhythm was normal — this child had achieved complete and total peace by simply opting out.
Respect. I'm not even being sarcastic. That's the most powerful thing I've ever witnessed.
The elevator opened and I stepped in.
