Chapter 7 - Rose Came Through ArrivalsTwo days later, I stood at Boston Logan International Airport watching the arrivals doors.
I had barely slept.
Then Darius appeared.
Rose walked beside him.
I ran.
She dropped her backpack.
We collided in the middle of the terminal.
She held me so tightly I could feel her trembling.
“You came back.”
“Always.”
Darius wrapped his arms around both of us.
For several seconds, the airport disappeared.
There were no grandparents.
No aunt.
No cousins.
No money.
Only us.
On the drive home, Rose stared through the window.
Then she said:
“I don't want to see them.”
“You don't have to.”
“Grandma too?”
I hesitated.
“You decide who gets access to you.”
That became the rule.
Not revenge.
Not punishment.
Boundaries.
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For the first time, Rose understood she was allowed to establish them.
And for the first time, I understood that my job wasn't to rebuild the family everyone else had broken.
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