“I’ll just eat at school tomorrow,” Ava said.

She climbed the wooden stairs without looking back down.

Daniel watched her go and then turned to face me.

“You have to make more of an effort to make her comfortable here,” he said.

“I spent forty minutes looking for one specific carton of milk to make her happy.”

“It’s about showing her she belongs in this house,” Daniel said.

He turned around and followed his daughter up the carpeted staircase.