I had thought Uncle Richard’s arrival would change everything in one night.

It had changed something important: he had shown up.

The rest had been slower.

Phone calls, medical appointments, conversations with lawyers, mistakes, apologies, and ordinary people who kept their promises.

That was how our life had been rebuilt.

I carried Noah back inside when he grew sleepy.

He laid his head on my shoulder and murmured a sound that might have been my name.

I held him a little closer.