Eleanor’s mouth opened, then closed again.
Nathan stood up slowly.
“What is she talking about?” he asked, his voice hollow.
Rosie looked at him.
“Grandma said the babies cried too much,” she said simply. “She put extra drops in their bottles. She said Mommy didn’t need to know.”
The church felt like it was holding its breath.
Eleanor shook her head wildly.
“She doesn’t understand. It was just herbal drops. Old remedies.”
I laughed — a sharp, broken sound.
“You never touched their bottles,” I said. “I did. Except the nights you insisted on ‘helping.’”
Nathan staggered back into the pew.
The police report had said unknown cause.
The autopsy had been inconclusive.
No signs of neglect. No proof.
Until now.
Pastor Miller quietly asked someone to call the authorities.
Eleanor collapsed into her seat, sobbing — not for the babies, not for us, but for herself.
Nathan finally looked at me.
“I’m so sorry,” he whispered.
I didn’t answer.
I knelt in front of Rosie instead, pulled her close, and kissed her hair.
“You were so brave,” I said.
She nodded.
“I didn’t like her saying bad things about you.”
Eleanor was arrested later that afternoon.
The service never finished.
I left the church holding Rosie’s hand — and my sons a little lighter in my heart than in my arms.
Grief didn’t end that day.
But silence did.
And sometimes, justice comes from the smallest voice in the room —
the one everyone forgot to listen to.