Chapter 10
On the anniversary of the night I came home early, Ava asked if we could have everyone over for dinner.
“Everyone?” I asked.
“Us. Aunt Leah. Grandma June. And Ms. Ellis, if teachers are allowed to come.”
Nia was at the table doing homework. She looked up.
“Ms. Ellis would come,” she said. “She still asks how I’m doing.”
Ava began making a guest list. Caleb added Dr. Bell, then scratched her name out because he thought she might prefer not to spend her evening with three children she knew from work.
I watched them debate the menu. Nia asked for roast chicken, rice, vegetables, and fresh bread.
The same meal I had found on the table a year earlier.
“You sure?” I asked her later.
“Yes. I like all of it.”
I nodded and wrote it on the shopping list.
We invited Leah, my mother June, and Ms. Ellis. Ms. Ellis said she could stop by before dinner, but had plans with her own family. She came with a card for Nia and stayed long enough to hear about Nia’s first week at her new art class.
After she left, Nia placed the card on the shelf beside Simone’s picture.
Vanessa called that afternoon to speak with Ava and Caleb before their visit the next day. They told her about school and their grandmother’s arrival. I stayed nearby while they talked, then took the phone when they were finished.
She asked whether Nia had received a birthday card she had sent through the lawyers.
“She did,” I said. “She chose to put it away without opening it.”
“All right.”
Vanessa was quiet for a moment.
“I understand,” she said.
I ended the call and found Nia in the kitchen slicing carrots with Leah. She knew who had called. I told her what Vanessa had asked and what I had said.
“Thanks,” Nia replied.
Then she pushed a bowl toward me. “Can you wash these?”
I washed carrots while Leah showed Nia how to season the chicken. Nia tasted the rice, decided it needed more salt, and added some herself.
At six, June arrived with a pie. Ava met her at the door. Caleb carried her bag. Nia came out of the kitchen and hugged her grandmother so tightly June laughed and nearly dropped the pie.
We set the table together.
Caleb put out six plates. Ava placed bread in the middle. There was room to pass dishes in every direction.
When we sat down, Nia took the chair beside me. Ava sat on her other side. Leah asked June about her garden, and Caleb began explaining a school project before anyone had taken a bite.
I carved the chicken. Nia reached for a piece, stopped, and looked at me.
Old habits could return without warning. I set down the knife and waited.
She took the piece she wanted. Then she passed the platter to Ava.
Dinner was loud. Caleb spilled water. June told a story about me getting lost as a child, which the children enjoyed far too much. Leah laughed at my expression. Nia asked for more bread and took it from the basket.
After pie, Ava brought out her phone.
“I have a new picture,” she announced.
I felt Nia stiffen beside me. Ava saw it, too.
“It’s okay,” Ava told her. “I asked first.”
She showed us a photograph she had taken just before dinner. Nia stood at the stove with Leah. Caleb was behind them, trying to steal a piece of bread. I was reaching into a cupboard, and June and Ava were reflected in the dark kitchen window.
Everyone was in it.
“It’s a good picture,” Nia said.
“Can we print it?” Ava asked.
“Please,” Nia replied.
Later, after the dishes were done and our guests had gone, I found Nia looking at the photograph on Ava’s phone. She handed it to me.
“I used to think she was taking pictures because she was scared,” Nia said.
“She was.”
“She took this one because she was happy.”
I looked at the screen. Ava’s finger had covered one corner of the lens. The picture was a little crooked. I loved it.
“I’m happy, too,” I said.
Nia rested her head against my shoulder.
“I know you have to work,” she said. “I know you can’t always be in the house.”
“I’ll tell you when I’m leaving and when I’ll be back.”
“I know.” She paused. “When I think about you going somewhere now, I know you’re coming home to us.”
I put my arm around her. Through the open doorway, I could see Caleb helping Ava put away the board game. The kitchen still smelled of chicken and bread. Nia’s plate sat on the counter with the others, ready to be washed.
May you like
“We’re here,” I told her.
She looked up at me and smiled. Then she took my hand and pulled me toward her brother and sister, who were already arguing over who would choose the next game.
