Chapter 17 - The FamilyDaniel met the children.
Lila adored him.
Jake thought he was a hero.
Mia made him a macaroni necklace.
Clara watched from the kitchen.
“You're smiling,” she teased.
“So?”
“You haven't smiled like that in years.”
I looked outside.
Daniel was teaching Lila how to throw a baseball.
Something warm settled in my chest.
Not obsession.
Not fear.
Not the desperate kind of love that demanded everything.
Peace.
Real love felt different.
May you like
It didn't make me smaller.
It made me feel safe enough to become myself again.
