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“He’s only allowed to eat what’s in this.”

“Okay. I mean, I was going to make them turkey sandwiches.”

“Only this. There are peanuts in so many things.”

“Okay,” he repeated. “I understand.”

“Do you know how to use this?” She handed Adam a pair of EpiPens.

“Yeah.” Though he really didn’t want to and hoped it didn’t come to that. “I think so.”

“Read the instructions. Do not accidentally jab yourself. Remember, blue to the sky, orange to the thigh,” she said. “Do not lose them.”

Adam nodded as she left.

“So what do you two want to do?” he asked, after putting the pens on the counter.

“We can play superheroes?” Mateo asked. “I like Batman.”

Ian did not look up from his paper and crayons.

“Ian?” Adam asked. “Mateo asked you a question.”

“I’m coloring.”

He had Adam’s blue eyes.

Adam hadn’t been born when Bobby was this little. He wondered if Bobby had shown the same kind of intensity. It felt almost surgical. Maybe Ian would be a doctor too.

“That’s okay,” Mateo said. “I can color too.”

In him, Adam could see the family resemblance to Vic, at least in the pictures of him that his mom had on the walls.

Ian narrowed his eyes as Mateo sat. Adam thought he might protest, but he kept quiet as Mateo took some of the blank paper and crayons and began a far less methodical process of making art.

He mostly drew animals, blobs with legs and eyes.

Ian kept drawing buildings, going slowly, working to get the lines just right.

Adam decided it wasn’t going to get more exciting than this, so he retreated to the living room to read.

Maybe Ian would be a bit more friendly without an adult watching over his shoulder.

Annie worried about him. He didn’t engage with the other kids at school. He didn’t play sports or show any interests.

He didn’t act up or misbehave, which she’d confided might have been a relief. He just . . . was.

Adam read on his phone. He’d lost track of time and started, surprised, when someone tugged his sleeve.

Matteo stood beside the couch.

“What’s up, buddy?”

The kid didn’t speak, but he made a rasping, jagged sound.

Adam stared, wide-eyed.

Matteo opened his mouth. His tongue looked swollen. He was turning red.