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80.

The house was Xanadu. High ceilings, priceless art, beautiful swimming pool. Palatial, but above

all, ultra-safe. Better yet, it came with security, paid for by Tyler.

We spent those last days of March 2020 exploring, unpacking. Trying to get our bearings.

Halls, wardrobes, bedrooms, there seemed no end of spaces to discover, and niches for Archie to

hide.

Meg introduced him to everything. Look at this statue! Look at this fountain! Look at these

hummingbirds in the garden!

In the front hall was a painting he found especially interesting. He started every day locked on

to it. A scene from ancient Rome. We asked each other why.

No clue.

Within a week Tyler’s house felt like home. Archie took his first steps in the garden a couple

of months later, at the height of the global pandemic lockdown. We clapped, hugged him, cheered.

I thought, for a moment, how nice it would be to share the news with Grandpa or Uncle Willy.

Not long after those first steps Archie went marching up to his favorite painting in the front

hall. He stared at it, made a gurgle of recognition.

Meg leaned in for a closer look.

She noticed, for the first time, a nameplate on the frame.

Goddess of the hunt. Diana.

When we told Tyler, he said he hadn’t known. He’d forgotten the painting was even there.

He said: Gives me chills.

Us too.