I smiled.

“I am now.”

“Who’s getting the last pancake?”

I looked at the four eager faces.

“We’ll divide it.”

Noah considered that with mock seriousness.

“Equal shares?”

“Equal shares.”

“Then we’d better measure it,” Ethan said.

Sophia fetched a ruler.

Olivia laughed so hard she almost dropped the spoon.

And the noise that filled our kitchen wasn’t the sound of a victory over Daniel.

It was the sound of a family no longer waiting for him to give it permission to exist.