Sometimes, love does more than heal; it protects. And sometimes, even after they’re gone, the people who love us leave behind shields we never knew we had. I don’t have everything figured out, but I have enough.
I have a home. I have peace. And I have the strength to be the mother I promised Ethan I’d be.
The woman who tried to destroy me? She’s just a bitter memory. My dad gave me more than a house.
He gave me security, hope, and the courage to fight for myself. And now, every time I feel Lily or Grace kick or laugh or cry, I know he’s still here — in the walls of this house, in the wind outside the window, and in the warmth that fills this space. He didn’t just leave me a deed.
He left me the ending of one story and the beginning of another.
