The evening began well enough—laughter, clinking glasses, the smell of garlic butter filling the air. I ducked into the kitchen for another bottle of soda when I heard it: giggling. Not the sweet kind, but the mischievous kind.

I froze, listening. Then I walked into the living room.

My heart sank.

Across our brand-new wallpaper stretched loops and zigzags in bright red, blue, and green marker, from the baseboard up to waist level. Caps were scattered across the rug like confetti.

It felt like the breath had been punched out of me.

Caleb looked up, clutching a green marker cap, his little smile sheepish.
“Oopsie,” he mumbled.