Chapter 10: What I Built
One year after I returned from Tampa, Felix turned eight.
We had a small party in the backyard with my parents, a few neighbors, and the friends Felix had made at school. No one from Russell’s side was invited. We didn’t need them.
Felix blew out the candles on the cake my mother had baked and looked up at me with the same bright eyes I remembered from the photographs Russell had sent.
“I love our house, Mommy.”
I kissed the top of his head.
“I love it too.”
Later that night, after everyone had gone home, I stood in the kitchen and looked at the refrigerator covered with Felix’s drawings. The house was paid for. The yard was full of flowers we had planted together. My parents were safe and healthy. My son was happy.
Five years of sacrifice had not been wasted.
They had built this.
The man who had smiled while he took everything had lost it all with one phone call.
I had gained everything that mattered without ever raising my voice.
I turned off the lights and went upstairs to check on Felix. He was asleep with the stuffed bear I had bought him the week I returned. I kissed his forehead and whispered the same promise I had made the night I found them at the bus station.
“I’m here. We’re home.”
The house was quiet.
May you like
The family was safe.
And for the first time in years, I slept without fear of what I would find when I woke up.
