Chapter 7
“My mother called me from the hospital. I left training immediately.”
Ryan wrapped an arm around my shoulders.
“I got there before midnight.”
My voice broke.
“Lily was awake when I arrived. She asked if I had won.”
Tears blurred my vision.
“I told her I hadn't fought yet.”
I laughed softly through the tears.
“And she said, 'That's okay, Mommy. You're still my champion.'”
Nobody interrupted.
“Her condition worsened overnight. The doctors did everything they could.”
I looked toward Tommy.
“By morning, she was gone.”
Nicole covered her mouth.
“I am so sorry.”
I nodded.
“For months afterward, I couldn't walk into a gym. Every time I heard a crowd cheering, I remembered how Lily used to cheer for me from the living room.”
I wiped my face.
“So I retired.”
Derek looked down.
I continued.
“People said I'd thrown away my career. Sponsors called. Promoters offered money. Reporters wanted to know why I disappeared.”
I looked directly at Derek.
“But I had spent years proving I could defeat the strongest opponents in the country.”
My voice steadied.
“And none of that mattered when I couldn't bring my little girl home.”
Ryan kissed my forehead.
I turned toward him.
“Three years later, I met Ryan.”
He smiled sadly.
“At a grocery store.”
Despite everything, I laughed.
“He knocked over an entire display of canned peaches.”
“I maintain that the shelf was unstable,” he said.
A few people smiled through their tears.
“He helped me pick them up,” I continued. “Then he asked if he could buy me coffee.”
Ryan squeezed my hand.
“I said yes because he made me laugh for the first time in a very long time.”
I looked toward Diane.
“When Ryan learned about Lily, he didn't tell me to move on. He didn't tell me to be strong.”
My eyes filled again.
“He asked me what she was like.”
Ryan looked at the ground.
“And he listened.”
I turned back toward Derek.
“So yes, I used to be a champion. But that's not the most important thing about me.”
My voice grew firmer.
“I'm a mother who lost a child. I'm a wife who loves her husband. And I'm a woman who refuses to let anyone turn strength into an excuse for cruelty.”
Derek stared at his shoes.
For a brief moment, I thought he might apologize.
Instead, Diane stood.
“Well,” she said shakily, “this has all become terribly emotional. Perhaps we should calm down and have dessert.”