I didn’t know whether to hug him or ground him.
So I asked the obvious question.
“Why didn’t you come to me first?”
Ethan finally looked directly at me.
“Because you would have wanted to do it the grown-up way.”
I blinked.
“What exactly does that mean?”
“You’d make calls.”
He counted on his fingers.
“Compare prices.”
“Ask the school.”
“Look for assistance programs.”
“Talk to Sophie’s parents.”
I folded my arms.
“All reasonable things.”
“I know.”
“Then?”
He took a breath.
“But Sophie needed it now.”
That answer landed harder than I expected.
Because he wasn’t wrong about me.
I was practical.
I budgeted everything.
Compared grocery prices.
Kept emergency folders.
Made lists for my lists.
Ethan had skipped all of that and gone straight to:
She needs help. I have something valuable. I can help.
It wasn’t financially perfect.
But it was painfully sincere.
