The dining chairs didn’t match.

There was a repaired lamp in the corner and a secondhand couch with one stubbornly uneven cushion.

But the place was warm and full of noise, and nobody was afraid of speaking too loudly.

At one point I heard Sadie say, “My mom’s the reason I’m okay.”

I froze in the hallway.

Nina answered, “Your doctors helped too, dummy.”

“I know that,” Sadie said, laughing.

“I mean she listened.”