Chapter 23
Ellie was the light of our lives.
Marcus was an incredible father to her.
Just as he'd been to the quadruplets.
He changed diapers.
He got up in the middle of the night.
He sang her lullabies.
He loved her with everything he had.
The older children adored her.
Noah flew home from Boston every chance he got.
Ethan FaceTimed her every day after practice.
Sophia painted portraits of her.
Olivia wrote her stories.
Ellie was the center of our family.
The baby everyone doted on.
The child who'd brought us even closer together.
When Ellie was one year old, we had a big birthday party.
All of our friends and family came.
Aunt Margaret.
Daniel and his wife and stepdaughter.
Employees from the foundation.
Neighbors.
It was a celebration of Ellie's life.
But also a celebration of everything we'd built.
As I watched Marcus hold Ellie, surrounded by our four older children, laughing and happy, I thought about the journey that had brought us here.
From abandonment to love.
From loneliness to family.
From fear to hope.
It had been a long road.
But every step had been worth it.
Daniel came over to me, holding a glass of champagne.
"She's beautiful, Kesha. Just like her mother."
"Thank you, Daniel."
He looked at our family, at Marcus and the children, at the life we'd built.
"You know, I used to hate you," he said quietly. "Hate you for being successful. For being happy. For showing me what I'd thrown away. But now... now I'm just grateful. Grateful that you raised those children with so much love. Grateful that they're happy and healthy and good. Grateful that we can all be here together, celebrating this little girl."
I looked at him.
Truly looked at him.
The anger that had once burned between us was gone.
The pain had faded.
All that was left was understanding.
And gratitude.
"I'm grateful too," I said. "For the children. For Marcus. For Ellie. For all of it."
We raised our glasses.
"To Ellie," Daniel said.
"To Ellie," I agreed.
We drank.
And for a moment, everything was perfect.
Later that night, after all the guests had left, Marcus found me in the garden.
I was sitting on the bench we'd installed near Eleanor's tulips.
Ellie was asleep in my arms.
"Penny for your thoughts?" he said, sitting beside me.
"I was just thinking about how lucky we are."
"We are lucky," he agreed. "But we also worked hard for this. We fought for it. We earned it."
He put his arm around me.
"I love you, Kesha Reynolds. And I love our five amazing children."
"I love you too, Marcus Reynolds. And I love our family."
We sat there for a long time, watching the stars, holding our sleeping baby.
The tulips were blooming, just like they did every spring.
Eleanor was with us, in the flowers, in our daughter's name, in the love that surrounded us.
Daniel was part of our lives now, in his own way.
The children were happy and successful.
Ellie was healthy and loved.
And Marcus and I were still together, still in love, still building our life together.
It wasn't the life I'd imagined when I was twenty-two and pregnant and alone.
May you like
It was better.
So much better.
