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

there. We were rebuilding slowly, carefully.

Lena showed my mom her constellation maps. My dad asked about school. We ate pasta and salad and things felt almost normal.

As they were leaving, my mom pulled me aside. “I’ve been thinking about what you said. About managing everyone’s emotions.”

“Yeah?”

“I did that to you. Your whole childhood. I made you continue reading …