The tears were unexpected. Not just tears, it was brokenhearted sobbing--a dam breaking kind of outburst.
Sienna crouched quickly, scooping Ali into her arms. "Shh, it's okay Aliboo. Mama's here. Mama will fix everything." She rocked her daughter gently, brushing sand from her hair. The girl hiccuped between cries, clutching at Sienna's shirt as if the world would rip them apart at any moment.
Beside them, Eli stood with clenched hands, one eye swelling into a bruise. Unlike his sister, he didn't cry. Not even as his grandma Byra inspected his wounds.
"What happened?" Sienna asked him, touching his head with one hand, the other firmly wrapped around Ali.
Grandma Byra tried to carry him, her eyes loaded with tears.
