Chapter 6
PART 6
The next morning, Daniel tried to repair the family with pancakes.
Rachel watched him burn the first batch and undercook the second.
It would have been funny in another life.
Jason came downstairs late, hoodie pulled over his head.
Alyssa followed quietly.
Ethan stayed beside Rachel, clutching the taped airplane pieces inside a shoebox.
Daniel set plates on the table.
“Let’s all sit.”
Rachel remained standing.
“No.”
Daniel sighed.
“Rachel, please.”
“You cannot fix fear with breakfast.”
Jason rolled his eyes.
“I said one thing.”
Rachel turned to him.
“You destroyed his project.”
Jason looked away.
“It was dumb.”
Ethan’s fingers tightened around the shoebox.
Rachel’s voice sharpened.
“Look at him when you say that.”
Jason did not.
Daniel stepped in.
“He’s embarrassed.”
Rachel looked at Daniel.
“He is protected.”
That silenced the room.
Daniel put down the spatula.
“What do you want me to do?”
“For once?”
Rachel’s voice stayed low.
“Parent him.”
Daniel turned to Jason.
“Apologize.”
Jason muttered, “Sorry.”
Rachel shook her head.
“That is not parenting.”
Daniel’s face reddened.
“I’m trying.”
“You are performing discomfort.”
Alyssa looked at Rachel like she had never heard anyone name it before.
Rachel opened her phone and showed Daniel the canceled payments.
Jason’s baseball camp.
Phone upgrade.
Weekend trip with friends.
Private hitting coach.
All paused.
Jason stood.
“You’re ruining my life because of a toy?”
Ethan flinched.
Rachel stepped in front of him.
“No.”
“I am stopping payment because you broke a child’s work, insulted me, and still think the problem is what you lost.”
Jason looked at Daniel.
Daniel did not rescue him.
Not this time.
The silence frightened Jason more than shouting.
Daniel finally said, “You will get a job this summer.”
Jason stared.
“What?”
“To pay Rachel back for the airplane.”
“It’s wood.”
Daniel’s voice shook.
“No.”
“It was time.”
“And care.”
“And something you had no right to destroy.”
Rachel looked at Daniel.
For the first time in a long while, he had said the correct thing.
May you like
But correct words after damage were not the same as safety.
Read the full story 👉 Daniel finally confronted Jason, but Rachel knew one good sentence could not erase years of protection.
