Chapter 10
One year later.
The garden was in full bloom. Roses of every color—pink, red, white, yellow—filled the air with their sweet scent. The sun was shining, warm and golden. Birds sang in the trees.
I sat on a bench in the middle of the garden, watching my children play.
Lucas was fourteen now. Tall and strong, the captain of his soccer team. He had a girlfriend named Sarah—after my sister—and he wanted to be a doctor when he grew up. He wanted to help people, just like Ella had helped him.
Mia was ten. She loved art and music and had more friends than I could count. She was the light of our family, always laughing, always smiling. She still had bad dreams sometimes, but they were getting rarer.
Tommy was eight. He loved baseball and video games and getting into trouble. He was the baby of the family—well, almost—and he knew how to use it to get what he wanted.
And Ella.
Ella was two years old now. She was walking and talking and getting into everything. Her gift was still there, still a mystery, but we used it carefully. We worked with a team of doctors and scientists, trying to understand how it worked, trying to find a way to replicate it without hurting her.
She was happy. Healthy. Loved.
"Watch this, Daddy!" Tommy shouted, running toward me with a baseball glove. He threw the ball in the air and caught it, grinning proudly.
"Great job, sport!" I said, clapping.
Mia came over, holding a drawing she'd made. "Look what I drew, Daddy! It's our family."
I looked at the drawing. Stick figures of me, Lucas, Mia, Tommy, and Ella, all holding hands, with a big sun in the sky and roses growing in the garden.
"It's beautiful, sweetheart," I said. "I'm going to hang it in my office."
She beamed and ran off to show her aunt Sarah.
Lucas walked over, carrying Ella on his shoulders. She was laughing, her tiny hands tangled in his hair.
"She wanted to see the roses," Lucas said, smiling.
Ella pointed at a red rose. "Flower!" she said.
"Yes, that's a flower," I said, reaching up to take her from Lucas. I held her in my arms, and she leaned over and kissed my cheek.
"Love you, Daddy," she said.
My heart swelled. "I love you too, baby girl."
Lucas sat down beside me on the bench. We watched Mia and Tommy play together, chasing each other through the rose bushes.
"Can you believe it's been a year?" Lucas said.
I shook my head. "No. It feels like yesterday that I met you at that café. And it feels like you've been my children forever."
Lucas smiled. "Feels like you've been our dad forever too."
He was quiet for a moment.
"I still think about Mom and Dad," he said. "Every day. I miss them."
"I know you do," I said. "And I would never want you to stop missing them. They were your parents. They loved you very much. But I hope you know that I love you too. Just as much as they would have."
Lucas nodded. "I know. And I love you too, Dad."
That word—Dad—still sent a thrill through me. Even after a year, even after hearing it a thousand times, it still felt like a miracle.
My sister walked out of the house, carrying a tray of lemonade. Her husband followed behind her, carrying plates of cookies.
"Refreshments!" my sister called out.
Mia and Tommy came running. Lucas stood up to help. I carried Ella over to the table, where she immediately reached for a cookie.
"One cookie," I told her. "Then you have to eat your lunch."
She pouted, but she nodded.
We all sat around the garden table, eating and drinking and laughing. The sun was warm on our faces. The roses smelled beautiful. My children were happy and healthy and safe.
Justice had been served. Richard Voss was in prison, where he'd spend the rest of his life. GenSys had been shut down. The corrupt police officers and politicians who'd helped him had been arrested and prosecuted.
The world was a better place.
And my world was perfect.
After lunch, the children went back to playing. My sister and her husband sat with me, watching them.
"You know," my sister said. "Mom and Dad would be so proud of you. Look at what you've built. Look at this family."
I smiled. "I think they would be proud of all of us."
Ella came running over to me, her small legs pumping. She tripped over a root and started to fall. I reached out and caught her, holding her tight.
She looked up at me, her eyes wide, then she laughed.
"Got you," I said, tickling her.
She giggled and squirmed in my arms.
I held her close, breathing in the sweet scent of her hair. I thought about that day at the café. About the broken old man I used to be. About the miracle that had changed everything.
Ella had healed my legs. But she'd done so much more than that.
She'd healed my heart.
She'd given me a reason to live again. A reason to hope. A reason to love.
And in return, I'd given her and her siblings a home. A family. A future.
We'd saved each other.
I looked up at my children. At Lucas, teaching Tommy how to throw a baseball. At Mia, picking roses for her aunt. At Ella, safe in my arms.
The wind blew through the garden, carrying the scent of roses. The sun shone down on us, warm and golden.
For the first time in my life, I felt completely at peace.
I was home.
I was loved.
And I was whole.
"Come on, Ella," I said, standing up. "Let's go play with your brothers and sister."
May you like
I carried her over to the others, and she reached out her small arms, laughing.
And for the first time in a long time, everything was exactly as it should be.
