Beneath it Nathan added: Also, whoever empties the dishwasher gets first choice of dessert.

It looked absurdly ordinary beside all the paperwork.

That was exactly why I kept it there.

Our family had already survived so much by defending its ordinary moments.

I would not let Brian’s reappearance consume them all.

<strong>PART 9</strong>

A week later Brian emailed me a scanned photograph from his home office.

In it, two four-year-old boys stood beside an inflatable pool, one wearing a green shirt and the other holding a red plastic cup.