Kyle came at the agreed time with a book about trucks.

He and I had discussed the event beforehand so that neither of us would be surprised by guests or expectations.

He greeted everyone politely and spent most of the party sitting on the floor building towers for Miles to knock down.

Kendall brought a hand-knitted blanket.

Sandra did not attend.

She sent a card through Kyle, which I set aside to read later.

I wasn’t ready to decide what role she might have in Miles’s life, if any, and a birthday was not the time to debate it.