Ruby's throat tightened, but she kept her voice even, kept it warm, because the boys needed warmth far more than they needed the truth right now.
"Because Mummy and Daddy need to take care of some things first," she said gently. "Just for now. And as soon as we're done, we'll come straight to you. I promise."
She pulled them both into her arms at once, one on each side, holding them the way you hold something you are terrified to let go of and forcing yourself to do it anyway because it is, for now, the safer thing.
Max knelt and gathered them in too, his arms wrapping around all three, Ruby, Ethan, and Nathan, for one long moment that none of them rushed.
"You can call us anytime," he said into the top of Nathan's head. "Anytime at all. And I'll call you too. Every day."
The boys clung to him a moment longer, then let go, the resilience of children doing what it always does, bending without quite breaking.
