“I’m glad,” he said softly.

“Chloe!” he called out toward the living room. “Look who’s here.”

A sudden patter of small footsteps echoed on the hardwood floor.

Chloe came running around the corner, her bright eyes wide with excitement.

In her hands, she held a large, crumpled piece of green poster board.

“Victoria!” she squealed, running straight toward me.

I knelt down, catching her in a warm hug as she threw her small arms around my neck.

“Look what I made!” she said, pulling back to hold up the green poster board.

I looked at the colorful drawings and glued cutouts on the paper.

In the center of the board, a large tree trunk was drawn in brown crayon.

Each branch had a small, hand-drawn face with a name written underneath.

Right in the middle of the trunk, held down by a thick smear of school glue, was a neat white card.

Written on it in Chloe’s careful, uneven print was my name.

“I put you in the middle because you help us stay strong,” Chloe said proudly, pointing her small finger at the letters.