I laugh shakily. “Yeah, I’d love to.”
She holds out her little hand to me, and it nearly does me in. I look at Alie, and she nods, encouraging me.
We walk hand in hand to her room, and it’s the biggest kids’ room I’ve ever seen. Chaotic in the best way, with stuffed animals, crayons, books, and dolls. And very pink.
Sera sits on the floor and starts talking a mile a minute.
“This bunny Luna. This my book. This my horse,” she says, holding up a drawing of what looks like a possible horse.
I sit cross-legged on the floor, listening like each word matters more than anything else in the world. And it does because I missed all these little moments. But I’m here now, and that realization hits me hard enough that I have to take a breath to steady myself.
Suddenly, Sera crawls into my lap, like she’s done it a hundred times.
“Read,” she says, holding out a book to me.
I look over at Alie, who just smiles a little tearfully.
“She loves that one.”
So, I read. And my voice shakes a little at first, but Sera doesn’t notice. She just leans back against me, completely comfortable, flipping pages and pointing at pictures. Like I’ve always been here.
A while later, Sera’s in the living room watching a cartoon, and Alie takes me into the kitchen.
We stand there quietly for a second, watching Seraphina.
“Well?” she asks. “How are you doing with this?”
I exhale slowly. “She’s … incredible.”
Alie smiles through watery eyes. “Yeah, she is.”
I shake my head slightly, overwhelmed. “I don’t know how I missed two years of that.”
Guilt flickers across her face. “Liam?—”
“I’m not here to fight today,” I say gently. “I just … want to figure out how to be here now.”
Relief floods her expression. “I want that too,” she whispers.
I glance back toward the living room, where Sera’s laugh bubbles at something on the screen.
“She hugged me,” I say quietly.
“I would say she likes you.” Alie sets a hand on my arm.
“Thanks for letting me come over today.” I cover her hand with mine.
“Of course.”
I drop my hand, but wrap my arms around her waist, burying my head in her neck.
“I just can’t even tell you how I’m feeling right now.”
“I know,” she says, sounding a little choked up too. “It’s the same for me, but in a different way. I’ve been doing this on my own, and now you’re here.”
I pull away and look at her face. “I’m not going anywhere, just so we’re clear.”
“Okay.” She nods.
