Amelia's phone slipped slightly in her grip as her grandfather's name disappeared from the screen. Her heart thudded, her face draining of color until even her children noticed.
"Mom, what is wrong?"
Three pairs of identical eyes fixed on her, wide and unblinking. Their voices carried the faintest tremor, the sort of sound children only made when they sensed the world had tilted in a way they did not understand.
Amelia drew in a shallow breath, steadying herself against the sudden rush of panic that had lodged itself in her chest. "Your great grandfather is in the hospital." The words left her mouth with difficulty. "He fell."
For a moment the kitchen seemed to freeze, suspended in that awful silence where reality had not quite sunk in. Then the triplets reacted together, as they always did, their voices overlapping.
"We want to come too!"
