Chapter 24
Testified against executives who had worked with Charles.
He bought a normal house twelve minutes from mine.
Four bedrooms.
Three bathrooms.
Sophie approved.
“Better toilet number.”
He learned to braid hair badly.
He attended preschool concerts.
He carried glitter-covered backpacks without embarrassment.
He discovered that Harper refused sandwiches cut diagonally.
That Lila hated socks with seams.
That Sophie pretended not to fear thunderstorms but always ended up sleeping near someone else.
He became a father in a thousand ordinary ways.
A year after the airport, the girls turned five.
Their birthday party occupied my entire backyard.
Unicorn decorations.
Cupcakes.
Twenty-three screaming children.
One exhausted magician.
Declan stood near the grill wearing an apron that said DADDY TIMES THREE.
Amelia had bought it.
He pretended to hate it.
He wore it all day.
Late that evening, after everyone left, I found him sitting on the porch steps.
The girls were asleep inside.
“You survived.”
“Barely.”
“Three birthday cakes was unnecessary.”
“They wanted different flavors.”
“They ate frosting.”
“They’re individuals.”
I smiled.
“You’re impossible.”
He looked at me.
A year earlier, those words would have carried history.
Now they felt different.
He held something in his hand.
A small velvet box.
My stomach tightened.
“No.”
He laughed.
“It’s not what you think.”
“Good.”
He opened it.
Inside were three tiny gold lockets.
“For them.”
Each contained a picture.
One side: the girl.
The other: me and Declan together with her.
My throat tightened.
“They’re beautiful.”
“I wanted them to have something permanent.”
“They already do.”
He looked at me.
“What?”
“You.”
Silence.
Declan’s eyes filled.
I sat beside him.
For a while, neither of us spoke.
Then he said:
“The court approved it yesterday.”
“What?”
His hands tightened.
“My adoption petition.”
I stared.
Because biology mattered legally.
Alexander remained their biological father.
Declan had petitioned to adopt them with Alexander’s consent and mine.
Months of evaluations.
Documents.
Hearings.
Waiting.
“It’s final?”
He nodded.
“As of yesterday.”
I covered my mouth.
“They’re legally yours.”
“If they still want me.”
I laughed through tears.
“Try getting rid of them.”
He smiled.
Then grew serious.
“Cassidy.”
I knew.
This time, I let him speak.
“I loved you badly once.”
My throat tightened.
“I thought love meant keeping someone safe inside the life I designed.
And whenever you pushed against that life, I treated you like the problem.”
He looked toward the house.
“I won’t ever love you that way again.”