"Shit," he says, then laughs. "Shit. Okay, so how're you feeling about this?"

He knows Alex isn't a kid the same way he knows Laura isn't a kid. When he treats them like they are, he knows they hate it, it's just that they're both so young. And they've both seen too much shit already. It makes him want to keep them from having to see anything else, even when he knows that isn't fair.