Chapter 10
One year later, we held Lucas’s first birthday party in Rocco’s garden.
No marble ballroom.
No cold mansion.
No guests who smiled while hiding secrets.
Just sunlight, white tables, music, and people who had earned a place near us.
Gary stood by the grill, pretending he knew how to cook.
Dr. Porter came with a tiny blue sweater.
Detective Hale sent flowers because she was on duty.
Rocco carried Lucas around like the boy was made of gold.
Preston stayed beside me, not hovering, not afraid.
Present.
That was the word I had wanted from him all along.
Present.
When the cake came out, Lucas smashed one small hand into the frosting and shouted with joy.
Everyone laughed.
I laughed too.
The sound surprised me.
There had been months when I thought laughter would never feel natural again.
But it did.
It came back slowly.
Then all at once.
After cake, Rocco asked for everyone’s attention.
My stomach tightened out of old habit.
Preston noticed.
He touched my hand.
“Good news,” he whispered.
Rocco stood beneath the oak tree with Lucas on his hip.
“I spent many years believing power kept a family safe,” he said. “I was wrong. Truth does.”
The garden quieted.
He looked at me.
“Audrey taught this family that silence is not peace.”
My eyes filled.
He looked at Preston.
“My son taught me that a man can be raised in fear and still choose love.”
Preston lowered his head.
Then Rocco kissed Lucas’s hair.
“And this child taught me that the future does not have to pay for the past.”
Gary wiped his eyes and pretended he had smoke in them.
Rocco handed Lucas to me.
Then he opened a folder.
My heart skipped.
Not another secret.
Not another trap.
But Rocco smiled.
“I created a foundation in Luca’s name,” he said. “For mothers and children trapped in dangerous homes. Audrey will lead it, if she wants.”
I stared at him.
“You’re asking me?”
“I am asking. Not ordering.”
That made me cry.
“Yes,” I whispered. “I want to.”
Preston squeezed my shoulder.
“You’ll be amazing.”
Months earlier, praise from him would have made me ache.
Now it warmed me.
Because I did not need it to stand.
I already stood.
Brenda was serving her sentence.
Celia had lost every path back into medicine or law.
Luca’s case had been reopened, and though some answers would never be clean, his name was no longer buried.
Justice had not returned what was stolen.
But it had stopped the stealing.
As the sun lowered, Preston and I walked to the edge of the garden with Lucas between us.
Our son held one of my fingers and one of his father’s.
Tiny.
Strong.
Determined.
Preston looked at me.
“Are you happy?”
I looked back at the tables.
At Rocco laughing softly with Gary.
At the open garden gate.
At my son’s frosting-covered face.
At my own hands, no longer shaking.
“Yes,” I said. “I am.”
He exhaled like he had been waiting a year to hear it.
I touched his cheek.
“But more than that, I’m safe.”
His eyes filled.
“And loved,” he said.
I smiled.
“And loved.”
Lucas babbled between us, impatient with adult feelings, tugging us toward the music.
So we followed him.
Across the grass.
May you like
Into the light.
Together.
