The trip after that had a blue circle for a planned video call.

Elena sent me a picture of the calendar, and for the first time I felt invited into the texture of my daughter’s ordinary life.

At our next meeting, Willa asked to call me “Daddy Preston” until she decided whether plain “Daddy” felt right.

I told her she could call me whatever was comfortable.

She tested the words several times, smiling at how they sounded.

Then she demanded that I push her swing exactly seven times.