Instead of asking, ‘Did anything bad happen today?’ I asked which part of the day had been interesting, which part had been boring, and whether there was anything she wanted help with.

Some nights she told me a long story about a worm she found by the playground.

Other nights she said nothing.

Silence gradually stopped feeling like a threat to me.

One Friday she asked if we could invite Elena to breakfast.

I said yes, as long as Mabel knew our Saturday didn’t depend on somebody else being present.