I froze in the doorway.
She looked up nervously.
“Is it okay if I try?”
I could barely speak.
“Of course.”
She dipped one foot into the water.
Then another.
No fear.
No shaking.
Just caution.
Healing.
I sat on the bathroom floor while she played quietly with her toy boats again.
After a few minutes, she smiled at me.
A real smile.
The kind I thought I’d lost forever.
And in that moment, I realized something important:
Children don’t always know how to explain danger.
But they show us.
In fear.
In silence.
In changed behavior.
In the little things adults dismiss too quickly.
Sometimes the words “I don’t want to take a bath anymore” mean far more than we’re ready to hear.
