"We're doing okay," Samantha said, surprising herself. "We're completely overwhelmed and have no idea what we're doing, but we're doing okay."
"We're doing better than okay," Callum corrected. "Those children are happy. They're safe. They have a future now."
"They have a family," Kai added. "Crazy, chaotic, completely unprepared—but family."
"The best kind," Marcus agreed.
Linda raised her tea cup. "To imperfect families doing their best."
They clinked cups, and Samantha felt a moment of genuine peace. Then her phone buzzed with a text from Headmistress Reeves, and peace evaporated.
"Oh no," she said, reading the message.
"What now?" Kai asked with the wariness of someone who'd learned that 'oh no' was never followed by good news.
