Jacob
Bella’s school play was later that spring.
I knew this because she had reminded me twice during dinner and once while dipping a fry into ketchup with the focus of a surgeon.
“I am a cloud,” Bella said.
“That is an important role.”
“It is the most important role.”
“Of course.”
Bella gave me a serious look across the booth.
“Daddy,” she said, “without clouds, there is no rain. Without rain, there is no rainbow. Everyone thinks the rainbow is the fancy part, but the cloud does the work.”
I sat with that longer than she meant me to.
“You’re right,” I said.
“I know.” She took a bite of grilled cheese. “Mrs. Palmer says I have to float slowly and not bump Lucas because he is the sun.”
“Can you manage that?”
Bella considered this.
“Probably,” she said. “But Lucas moves into pe
