“Don’t make me regret saying yes before lunch.”
“I won’t.”
“You absolutely will.”
They both laughed.
From inside the house came Lily’s voice.
“Dad!”
Michael shouted back, “Garage!”
A moment later Lily appeared in the doorway carrying one sneaker and wearing the other.
She had grown taller.
Not dramatically.
Enough that Bear noticed when she stood beside the workbench.
Her leg braces were still visible beneath her jeans, but the newest set was lighter, slimmer, designed more for alignment than full support.
“Where’s my other shoe?”
Michael looked at the one in her hand.
“You’re holding it.”
“The other other shoe.”
Bear frowned.
“You have three feet now?”
Lily rolled her eyes.
“The matching one.”
Michael glanced beneath the workbench.
“No.”
She looked at Bear.
“Did you move it?”
“Why would I steal one child-sized sneaker?”
“You steal my fries.”
“That is completely different.”
“How?”
“Fries have value.”
Lily crossed her arms.
Michael covered a smile.
Bear stared at her.
“What?”
“Mom said ask both of you because you leave things everywhere.”
Bear looked offended.
“I maintain a highly organized environment.”
Michael opened a drawer.
It contained two screwdrivers, a glove, four receipts, a flashlight without batteries, an old belt buckle, and half a sandwich wrapped in foil.
Lily looked inside.
Then at Bear.
Bear closed the drawer.
“Not relevant.”
She found the sneaker underneath a shop towel near the garage door.
Nobody admitted responsibility.
That evening, Rachel made dinner.
Bear was technically invited.
In reality, he appeared so often that invitations had become administrative.
Dave came too.
Tommy arrived with his wife.
By seven, Rachel’s dining room contained enough people to make the old quiet life Michael once lived almost impossible to imagine.
Lily talked through half the meal about a school project.
Family history.
Bear noticed Michael become still.
Rachel did too.
Lily said, “We have to make a timeline.”
Michael reached for water.
“Sounds fun.”
“It is.”
Then Lily added, “I need everybody’s birthday and where they lived.”
Bear looked at Michael.
Michael looked at Rachel.
Rachel looked at her plate.
Lily noticed.
“What?”
Bear answered first.
“Your father has too many addresses.”
Michael shot him a look.
“That’s true.”
Lily frowned.
“Why?”
“Work.”
“What work?”
Michael paused.
Rachel stepped in.
“Your dad had to move a lot because adults were dealing with dangerous problems.”
Lily looked at him.
“Because of Vale?”
Nobody had hidden the basic truth from her.
Not after everything.
Children knew when adults constructed walls around information.
Better to build windows.
Michael nodded.
“Yes.”
“So what do I put?”
Michael thought.
Then smiled.
“Put Columbus.”
“But you weren’t always here.”
“No.”
“Teacher said accurate.”
Bear leaned toward Lily.
“Your teacher has clearly never met this family.”
Rachel laughed.
Lily did not.
“I want the real timeline.”
Michael’s expression changed.
There it was again.
His daughter asking for something he had once denied everyone else.
The right to know.
He put down his fork.
“All right.”
Rachel looked toward him.
Michael nodded.
“We’ll do it.”
After dinner, they covered the table with paper.