Are you really going to love me the way I am?
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"Laurent?"
The adult woman's voice softened into a gentle question. She crouched down near her son, careful not to invade the boy's personal space. Laurent, completely engrossed in the world before him, didn't respond.
His brows furrowed slightly in concentration, his eyes locked on the vibrant splash of colors on the drawing paper. His small hands, stained a rainbow of hues, moved with a focused intensity, adding more shapes and lines to the abstract masterpiece.
Maria Steinhauser waited patiently, a smile playing on her lips as she watched her son's focused creativity unfold.
"What are you drawing, Baby?" she asked tentatively, hoping to spark some interaction without disrupting the flow.
