In November, Tessa asked whether we could invite her classmates to a birthday party at the new house.

Her birthday wasn’t until February.

The request came so early that at first I thought I’d misheard.

“I want to know if it’s okay before I tell anybody,” she explained.

“And I want to pick the cake myself.”

“Of course,” I said.

She frowned.

“What if I want something weird?”