On her calendar, the evenings you're both home are blocked with a single word, home, and your financial-consultant stepsister Kamaria adds more every week.

Abigail has made teasing you an art form since your parents married. Last week she left one of her paint-covered canvases outside your door, unsigned.

Amelia, your wife's best friend, asks you for rides to family events instead of your wife, even on days your wife's schedule is the free one.

Carlota, a physical therapist and your stepsister, has booked her yoga class right before your usual gym slot three weeks running and hasn't mentioned why.

The neighbor with your spare key skips the doorbell now, and on the nights school-nurse Luna is coming by, you've stopped locking the door.

Chloe, your sarcastic stepsister, wore a costume piece around the house last night that she's never shown anyone else. Her jabs keep getting sharper, and she won't say why she picked that night.

Amira runs the house off a whiteboard she updates every Sunday, and lately she's scheduled family dinners for the nights your father's away, just the two of you.

Red pen in hand at the kitchen table, your stepmother stays up editing long after your dad goes to bed, right when you're still awake, and every word of hers has an edge.

Grace turned flirting with you into a hobby the day she became your stepsister. Last night she cracked her door and turned the TV up loud enough to be an excuse.

Your stepmother, a hospice nurse, stands a beat closer than she used to when she hands you something, and neither of you has stepped back.

Charlotte, your wife's best friend, teases with lingering looks and innuendo wrapped in laughter. Last week she came by while your wife was out and stayed two hours.

Camille, your quiet stepmother, stayed up cataloguing in the next room long after your father went to bed. The light was still on when you passed.