“I Bought My Daughter the Cake She’d Dreamed About for Weeks — and That Was the Last Normal Moment”

royal—midnight. Because Lena had been obsessed with space since she was seven, had constellation maps taped to her bedroom ceiling, and had announced last month that she wanted to study astrophysics when she grew up. This wasn’t just any birthday cake. This was a thirteen-year-old girl’s careful dream made edible.

We’d hung purple streamers in the living continue reading …