The drawing was on the kitchen table when Nia got home.
Not hidden. Not accidentally left out. Placed deliberately in the center of the table the way Seren placed things she considered important with the specific intentionality of a child who understood that location communicated significance.
Nia stood in the kitchen doorway with her bag still on her shoulder and looked at it.
The babysitter a quiet university student named Adaeze who Seren had approved after a three question interview about her feelings on bears appeared from the living room.
"She worked on it all afternoon," Adaeze said. "Wouldn't let me see it until she was finished. Then she put it there and said her mama needed to find it."
Nia thanked her. Waited until the door closed. Then she put her bag down and sat at the t
