It was an ordinary evening.
That was the thing he thought about afterward, the specific thing that made it what it was. Not a special occasion. Not the end of a hard day or the beginning of something significant. Just a Tuesday in the middle of a week that had more of the same ahead of it. The twins had eaten with them and then gone to their rooms, Lyra with a book and Caelum with the particular focused look he got when he was working through something he had not yet decided to talk about. Maren had gone home two hours ago. The files from the day were stacked on the side table, done with until morning.
Aelara was at the kitchen table.
