Silence.
"You could have destroyed her life."
"I would have corrected it later."
The father stared.
"What?"
Her eyes widened.
She realized.
He continued.
"You had thought about what would happen later?"
"No."
"You just said you would correct it later."
"I mean if things went too far."
"Police would be too far."
She covered her mouth.
The father stepped backward.
He suddenly needed distance.
The room felt smaller.
He went to the front window.
Outside, the neighborhood looked ordinary.
A delivery van passed.
A dog walker stopped near the corner.
Somebody's sprinkler misted a lawn.
Inside his house, nothing felt ordinary anymore.
His wife spoke behind him.
"What are you going to do?"
He looked at his reflection in the glass.
"I don't know."
That was the truth.
"Are you calling the police?"
He closed his eyes.
He thought of the nanny.
Accused.
Terrified.
The words monster and police thrown at her while she was still on the floor after protecting his daughter.
He thought of his older child.
Watching.
Recording.
Too afraid to speak until she realized the camera could speak for her.
He thought of the four-year-old.
Too young to understand any of it.
Then he turned.
"First, I'm calling the pediatrician."
His wife nodded quickly.
"Good."
"Then I'm calling Clara's agency."
Her face changed.
"Why?"
"Because she needs support."
"You mean you're reporting me."
"I mean I'm telling them their employee was falsely accused inside my home."
The mother looked away.
"Then I'm calling our attorney."
Her head snapped up.
"Richard."
He held up one hand.
"And after that, I will decide the next steps with professional advice."
She stared.
"You don't trust me."
He looked at the television.
The paused image remained.
His wife at the top of the stairs.
The nanny below.
Their daughter between those choices.
"No."
He said it quietly.
"Right now, I don't."
His wife sat on the sofa.
For the first time since the scream, she stopped arguing.
The father entered the den.
The nanny sat on the rug.
The little girl was beside her.
The older daughter sat against the couch with her knees pulled up.
All three looked at him.
He knelt.
"Emma."
The little girl looked up.
"Does anything hurt?"
She shook her head.
He touched her arm.
"Head?"
"No."
"Back?"
"No."
"Legs?"
"No."
She looked at the nanny.
"Clara caught me."
The nanny's eyes filled.
The father nodded.
"Yes."
He looked directly at her.
"She did."
The little girl said:
"Mommy said jump."
Every adult in the room froze.
The father felt his heartbeat in his throat.
"What?"
The nanny's expression changed.
The older daughter covered her mouth.