Chapter 10 - Happy Birthday, Rosie
The afternoon sun began to dip behind the tall pines of Weston, casting long, warm amber shadows across the estate.
The French doors of the estate dining room stood open to the terrace. Inside, on a polished mahogany table that had once belonged to their parents, sat a magnificent three-tiered cake.
It was frosted in immaculate white buttercream, draped in handcrafted sugar yellow roses that looked so real they seemed to have been plucked straight from the southern garden wall.
Across the top tier, written in delicate pink icing, were three words:
Welcome Home, Rosie.
Vincent, Rachel, Thomas, and Emma stood around the table.
""Are you going to blow out the candles, Mommy?"" Emma asked, jumping on her tiptoes. ""You have to make a wish!""
Rachel looked at the flickering yellow flames.
For twenty-five years, every birthday had been an ache, a silent mourning for an identity she couldn't remember and a family she had lost in the dark woods. For the last two years, it had been shadowed by the unbearable grief of losing David.
She looked at her brother, whose eyes were shining with peaceful, protective love. She looked at Thomas, smiling like a proud grandfather. She looked at her daughter, safe, happy, and laughing in the light of the candles.
She reached out and took Vincent’s hand, lacing her fingers through his—no longer holding on with two tiny childhood fingers, but holding on with the strength of an equal, a survivor, and a sister.
""I don't need to make a wish, Emma,"" Rachel said, her voice full and rich with happiness. ""Everything I ever wished for is standing right in front of me.""
Together, Rachel, Vincent, and Emma leaned forward and blew out the candles in a single, joyful breath.
May you like
The thin ribbons of smoke curled upward toward the high ceiling, drifting out through the open terrace doors and vanishing into the warm evening air above the blooming yellow roses.
The long night was over. The Hail family was finally whole."
