Page 72 of Pretty Thing

“You’re too skinny. Sit down. Eat something.”

Kris links her arm with mine.

“You are sitting beside me.”

“Hey, what about me?” Kyle pouts.

“How about I sit between you two, then you can properly critique how much I take and how many times I chew per mouthful,” I tease.

“We’re not that bad,” they say together, making us all laugh.

The grief isn’t quite as sharp when I sit down at the long table. I pull the vintage camera out of my bag and hang it around my neck. The first picture I snap is of Kris stealing olives from the pickle tray.

“Delete that immediately,” she says.

“Can’t.” I hold it up for her to have a look. “Old school, it has film.”

She stops with an olive halfway to her mouth.

“Like film, film? Do they even make that anymore?”

Kyle leans around me and stares at his sister.

“Pretty sure there is only one kind of film.”

“Shut it.” She points at her brother.

Kyle grins.

I take a few more, catching tiny snippets of normal life. Mr. Newman slicing the roast beef. Grandpa Newman sleeping at the table with his mouth open. Cali and Jacob throwing mashed potatoes at the kids’ table. Kris dramatically losing at cards and getting caught trying to cheat. It’s incredibly satisfying hearing the click and the shutter closing, as if I’ve really captured the moment in the lens.

Not big stuff, just living. Things that I’ve taken for granted, believing that I’ll never need a photo to remember.

Felix was right. It does help. It’s cathartic, and looking through the lens feels safer than feeling everything directly.

After dinner, Kris disappears briefly upstairs before returning with a wrapped box.

“You better cry,” she warns, plopping down beside me.

“Evil.”

“I’m kidding, sorta. This is from both of us.”

She points to Kyle with a devilish glint in her eye.

“Now I’m scared, and I’ve already cried twice today,” I say, unwrapping the paper slowly.

I immediately choke out a laugh through fresh tears.

There, nestled in the tissue paper, is a turquoise lava lamp with tiny fake turtles floating lazily inside.

“Oh my god.”

Kris beams proudly.

Kyle laughs and points.

“Your face is priceless.”