My husband pushed me down the stairs, and as I lay shattered at the bottom, my mother-in-law called my father and said, “Come get your worthless daughter and take her back.” Dad gave her only one warning: “If she has so much as a scratch, your family will answer for it.” They laughed at him because they had absolutely no idea who my father truly was.

Colored sprinkles for pancakes.

It was the first shopping list in weeks that wasn’t about medicine.

PART 14

Lily returned on a wet Tuesday afternoon with two small bags, one stuffed fox, and a look of careful uncertainty.

The family-services worker who accompanied her explained the transition in the simplest possible language.

Then she stepped aside.

Lily took one look at the paper stars Dad had taped above the guest-room door and smiled.

“Grandpa made a hotel?”