Chapter 24
The pregnancy was not without fear.
Michael was terrified.
Every time Amelia had a headache, he rushed her to the doctor. Every time she was tired, he made her lie down. He read every book. Bought every gadget. Prepared the nursery three different times.
The children were over the moon.
Lily prayed every night for a baby sister.
Ethan said he didn’t care—boy or girl, as long as he could teach it to play video games and protect it from the world.
The baby was born in the spring.
A girl.
They named her Sarah Grace.
After Michael’s first wife. After the mother Ethan and Lily had lost too soon. After the grace that had carried them through the darkest days of their lives.
She was perfect.
Ten fingers. Ten toes. A full head of dark hair. Her mother’s ocean eyes.
When Michael held her for the first time, he cried.
He thought of all the babies Vanessa had never had. All the children she had hurt. All the families she had destroyed. And he held his tiny daughter closer, promising her silently that he would spend the rest of his life making sure she never knew the kind of evil that had almost destroyed her family.
Ethan was the first to hold her after her parents.
He sat in the chair by the hospital bed, the tiny baby in his arms, and he whispered things to her that no one else could hear. Promises. Secrets. A lifetime of love.
Lily was next.
She was so gentle. So careful. She kissed the baby’s forehead and said, “Welcome to the family, Sarah. I’m your big sister. And I will never, ever let anyone hurt you. Ever.”
Amelia watched from the bed, her hand in Michael’s.
May you like
“We did good,” she whispered.
“Yeah,” Michael said. “We really did.”
