Chapter 12 - THE FAMILY WE CHOOSE
That evening, the house was filled with a sound it hadn't heard in decades.
Loud, chaotic, unfiltered joy.
David sat at the massive dining room table, holding Leo in his lap, catching up on two years of missed bedtime stories.
Sarah sat beside him, resting her head on his shoulder. The dark circles that had plagued her eyes for years were already starting to fade.
I stood in the doorway, watching them.
“It’s a good look for this room,” a raspy voice said.
I turned. Florence was standing beside me, leaning on her new oak cane.
“It is,” I smiled, wrapping my arm gently around her frail shoulders.
“You know, his mother used to dream about this,” Florence said softly, looking at the table. “A house filled with light. Not secrets. Not fear. Just people who love each other.”
Sebastian walked into the room carrying a large tray of roasted vegetables and pasta.
He didn't look like a feared boss.
He looked like a father. A partner. A man at peace.
He set the food down, making Leo laugh with a terrible joke about spaghetti, then walked over to Florence and me.
He kissed Florence’s forehead.
Then he pulled me into his arms, kissing me deeply, right there in front of everyone.
I smiled against his lips.
“What was that for?” I asked.
“For staying,” he said, his dark eyes reflecting the warm chandelier light. “When everyone else would have run.”
He reached into his pocket.
He didn't pull out a ring. A diamond didn't mean anything in this world.
He pulled out the cracked silver pocket watch—the one his mother had given him, the one Florence had saved.
He placed it into my palm and folded my fingers over it.
“The hands are broken,” Sebastian said softly. “It stopped at 6:17. But I don't want to go backward anymore, Grace. I only want to go forward. With you.”
I looked down at the watch, then up at the man who had finally escaped his ghosts.
“Forward,” I agreed.
Florence smiled, tapping her cane on the floor.
“Well, don't just stand there,” the old woman teased. “The food is getting cold, and I'm eighty-one years old. I don't have all day.”
We laughed.
Together, we walked to the table and sat down.
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For the first time in my life, I wasn't just surviving.
I was exactly where I belonged.
