Franz had cleared the whole morning without needing to be reminded twice, the household schedule rearranged around a single unmarked block on the calendar that only the adults in the house understood the shape of. Today would have been Layla's birthday, and he'd handled the flowers himself instead of leaving it to anyone else, white lilies for her and a bottle of the whiskey Alex used to keep in his desk drawer, plus a single cupcake with one unlit candle sitting in a box on the passenger seat, small enough not to feel like a production and specific enough that nobody would mistake it for anything but what it was.
Lily had decided two days ago, after a long, private conversation with Leo that neither of them fully repeated to anyone. They wanted to bring a photograph this year instead of a drawing, the newest family portrait, the one with Lexx finally included in it.
