“You’re right,” I said at last.

Her shoulders lowered slightly.

It wasn’t a grand breakthrough, but I could see that she had been waiting to hear me say it without bargaining.

Over time, she began sleeping through the night again.

She stopped checking the pantry door when she heard voices.

She invited Elise over for dinner and hosted the meal at the dining table, in the chair she’d chosen years ago.

I watched her laugh with her friend and understood that a home becomes safe through hundreds of small, ordinary moments, not through one dramatic declaration.