We lost track of time trying to resurrect the ancient TV; Olga jabbing every button on the remote like it owed her money, Joshua quietly reading the manual he had found under the coffee table...because of course he did. I sat cross-legged on the floor offering increasingly unhelpful suggestions. In the end we gave up, put on some boring rom-com from 2012, and waited for the mystery caller to ring again.

They didn't.

Eventually I gave up and went to bed. Olga and Joshua stayed on the couch-her curled under a blanket, him sitting ramrod straight like he was on guard duty even in sleep mode. I didn't argue. Olga...