The Inheritance Clause
Carmen laughed.
The full, real, unguarded laugh of a woman who is not performing comfort or managing anyone's feelings — the laugh of someone genuinely, helplessly amused in the middle of something enormous.
The laugh filled the room.
Sofia laughed too. Then James, because James laughed when other people laughed on principle. Then, Rosa, through the tears that had not stopped, the specific combination of grief and laughter that belongs specifically to people who are losing and loving simultaneously in the same room.
Elena laughed last.