Chapter 10 - Healing and Moving On
A year after the barbecue, Lily and I were sitting in the living room of our new home in a quiet, peaceful neighborhood far away from the wreckage of my past.
Lily’s leg had healed beautifully. Thanks to Dr. Evans's brilliant surgery and months of dedicated physical therapy, she was running, jumping, and playing soccer again with zero limp. The trauma counseling had worked wonders; she no longer flinched at loud noises, and her bright, happy laugh filled our home every single day.
She was sitting on the carpet, meticulously building a massive Lego castle, humming a pop song under her breath.
I sat on the couch with a cup of coffee, watching her.
My phone buzzed on the coffee table. It was an email from Marcus, checking in to confirm that the quarterly trust dividends from the settlement had cleared successfully. He also mentioned that Carla had been denied an early transfer to a lower-security facility due to a string of behavioral infractions.
I smiled, typed a quick Thank you, Marcus, and set the phone face down.
"Mom?" Lily called out, holding up a bright red Lego dragon. "Does the dragon guard the castle, or does he live inside it?"
I looked at my brave, resilient, beautiful daughter.
"The dragon guards the castle, baby," I said softly, stepping off the couch to sit on the floor beside her. "He makes sure nobody ever hurts the princess. And he never, ever lets anyone bad inside."
Lily smiled brightly, snapping the dragon into place at the front gates. "That's a good dragon."
May you like
"The best," I agreed, kissing the top of her head.
We spent the rest of the afternoon building the castle, surrounded by sunlight, safety, and a peace that could never be broken again.
