I laughed and thanked her.

There was something comforting about being pulled from a room of complicated adult worries into a debate about glue sticks and cardboard planets.

That evening we worked at the kitchen table.

Katie was making a model of the solar system with unevenly sized paper circles.

Chloe wanted to add an extra tiny planet for Grandma because “she deserves her own.” My mother arrived with dinner and objected that she preferred a moon.

The twins negotiated until everyone agreed she could have both.