“Because it reminds me we kept going.”
He understood.
The pool incident became family folklore.
Noah exaggerated it more every year.
By the time he was fifteen, according to his version, Vanessa had
screamed so loudly that birds flew out of trees.
Thomas had apparently arrived like an action hero.
The black box had become enormous.
I corrected him.
He ignored me.
Lily loved the story.
She had no memory of being the baby at the center of it.
“Did I really cause all that?”
she asked once.
“No.”
“You were eating.”
“That’s it?”
“That’s it.”
She looked disappointed.
Apparently she wanted a more heroic role.
I smiled.
“You were very brave.”
“I was six months old.”
“Exactly.”
She accepted that.
I sometimes wondered what Michael would think of the children.
Noah grew into a thoughtful young man.
Protective.
Funny.
Sometimes too serious.
Lily became fearless.
She climbed everything.
Asked endless questions.
Refused to be embarrassed easily.
Maybe that was coincidence.
Maybe not.
