Without presumption, but without fear either, he leaned slightly forward and said, “May I?”
Andrew was too tired to question who this boy was, too overwhelmed to care what anyone might think. He simply nodded and shifted Lily toward him.
The second the boy took her, the screaming began to fade.
It didn’t stop all at once. It softened first—shrill cries dropping into sobs, then hiccupping whimpers, then astonished silence.
A strange hush fell over the cabin as if two hundred people had collectively forgotten how to breathe. The teenager held Lily with practiced confidence, one hand supporting her neck, the other applying gentle rhythmic pressure along her back and spine while humming a melody Andrew had never heard before.
Lily’s eyes slowly opened.
For the first time since takeoff, she looked calm. Then peaceful. Then almost content.
Andrew stared.
“How did you do that?” he whispered.
The boy smiled faintly, never looking away from Lily. “My baby sister had bad colic. Took me a long time to figure out what actually helped.”