Her hands twist in her lap, nervous.
"I wanted to see how you were doing," she starts. "With my own eyes, not just your chart."
"I'm okay." The words come easier now, after days of practice. "Sore. Tired. But okay."
"And the baby?"
"Waylon." I can't help the smile that curves my lips. "We found out for sure today. It's a boy. Waylon Mercer."
Leah's expression softens. "That's beautiful, Vanna."
We sit in silence for a moment, the weight of everything unsaid pressing down on us.
Years of hurt.
Years of broken promises and stolen trust.
The necklace.
God, the necklace.
"Leah." I take a deep breath. "There's something I need to give you."
I reach for the bedside drawer, where Garrett put the jewelry box yesterday.
My hands are shaking as I pull it out, as I hold it up so she can see.
Leah's face goes white.
"Is that?—"
"Your mother's necklace." My voice cracks.
Leah doesn't move. Doesn't breathe.
"I know sorry isn't enough." I'm crying now, tears dripping onto the worn velvet of the box. "I know there's nothing I can say that will make up for what I did. But Garrett found it. When he—when they came for me. It was in Virgil's things. And I wanted you to have it back."
I hold the box out toward her.
She stares at it like it might bite her.
"I don't deserve your forgiveness," I continue, the words tumbling out in a rush. "I know that. I'm not asking for it. But this belongs to you. It always belonged to you. And I'm so, so sorry I took it."
For a long, terrible moment, nothing happens.
Then Leah reaches out with trembling hands and takes the box.
She opens it slowly, carefully, like she's afraid of what she'll find inside.
But it’s is there—I checked, when Garrett first showed me.
The delicate gold necklace that their father gave their mother on their wedding day.
A sob tears out of Leah's throat.
"I thought it was gone forever." Her voice is barely a whisper. "I thought I'd never—this is all I had left of her, Vanna. The only thing that survived the fire. And when it was gone, I felt like I lost her all over again."
"I know." I'm sobbing too now, ugly and raw. "I know, and I'm so sorry. I was so lost, Leah. So broken. I hurt everyone who loved me, and you most of all, and I can never?—"
