“What does it feel like to be completely useless?”…

Caden’s name lit up the screen. “Hey, honey,” I answered, drying my hands on a dish towel. “Everything okay?”

There was a pause, just long enough for my stomach to tighten.

“Yeah, it’s… fine,” he said, but his voice was low, laced with an embarrassment that was almost palpable through the receiver. “We just… we hit a small snag.”

I could hear Iris somewhere in the background, her voice sharp and anxious, the sound muffled like she was pacing the other room. “What kind of snag?” I asked gently.

There was another pause. I could picture him, pinching the bridge of his nose like he used to do when his math homework overwhelmed him in middle school. “It’s the mortgage,” he said finally.