Since Andrei was the indisputable star of the celebration, the entire family's attention naturally gravitated toward him. They crowded around, asking warmly about his well-being, the hobbies he had picked up during his five years in the United States, and the things he was most excited to experience now that he was back in his birthplace.
Throughout the chatter, everyone waited with gentle, easy patience whenever he paused to write down his responses. Not a single soul made a passing comment about him carrying a dry-erase board, even though he was easily old enough to speak.
Andrei was a brilliant child, but ironically, it was his sharp intellect that had made his family's disintegration so painful. Had he been oblivious to the toxic dynamics fracturing his home, he wouldn't have carried the weight of their arguments, wouldn't have absorbed their blame, and wouldn't have felt the sting of being abandoned at such a tender age.
