Chapter 25
The next five years were full of milestones.
Ethan went to space.
We watched the launch from Cape Canaveral, holding hands, holding our breath, as the rocket roared into the sky, carrying our son toward the stars.
He spent six months on the International Space Station. We talked to him every week via video call. He floated in zero gravity. He did experiments. He took the most incredible photos of Earth.
And when he came home… he was a hero.
Parades. Speeches. Medals from the President.
But to us, he was still just our Ethan. The boy who’d loved dinosaurs and soccer and his little sisters.
He and Maya had another baby. A boy this time. Leo.
Olivia now had a little brother.
Lily and Liam had another baby too. A girl. They named her Clara. After the woman who’d been family to all of us.
Clara cried when she heard. She held the tiny baby and said, “I never thought I’d get to have a namesake. Thank you.”
Grace graduated from Juilliard. She got cast in her first Broadway show. A supporting role. But it was Broadway.
We went to New York for opening night.
We sat in the front row. We held hands. We held our breath.
And when Grace stepped out onto that stage… she lit it up. She was a star. There was no other word for it.
She got a standing ovation. The critics raved. The show was a hit.
We went backstage afterward. She was still in her costume, makeup still on, glowing.
We hugged her. We cried. We told her how proud we were.
“Broadway, Mom,” she said, grinning from ear to ear. “I made it.”
“You sure did, baby. You sure did.”
Clara was eighty now. Still sharp as a tack. Still the matriarch of our crazy, wonderful family. She came to every graduation, every opening night, every birthday. She was the best great-grandmother in the world. The kids adored her.
Agent Carter had retired from the FBI. He and his wife spent half the year traveling and half the year at the lake house next to ours. We had dinner together every Sunday.
Life was good.
So good.
And then, on a crisp October evening, we got the call.
Richard was out of prison.
May you like
He’d served his full five years. He’d been a model inmate. He’d gotten his GED. He’d taken classes. He’d changed, his lawyer said.
And he wanted to see Lily.
