“Okay!” He got up and nearly ran across the room, flinging open a door to the bedroom and his stash of toys and games. When the door closed behind him, Anja burst into tears.
“This is too generous of you. Maybe we can work something out, I can pay—”
“No,” I cut her off, going over to her with the big envelope in my hands. “Max is my father’s son. My brother. It’s only right that he gets part of the inheritance.”
I rifled through the papers until I found the deed to the apartment, and I handed it over to Anja. Her hands shook as she took it.
“This isn’t all,” I said. “I’m going to have the rest of the assets split up evenly between me and Max. This isn’t about charity or me being kind. It’s the right thing to do.”
Anja looked up at me.
“Max is very lucky to have you as his sister,” she said, her voice thick with emotion.
“I’m the lucky one,” I insisted. “I always wanted a sibling.”
Her tears started flowing anew.
Reaching over, I gave her a hug. “It’s the least I can do after everything you and Max have gone through.”
Stefan moved closer to us. “Tori and I talked about it on the drive over, and we agreed that we want to be a part of both your lives,” he told Anja.
“Max is family,” I said, easing back from her. “And that makes you family, too.”
Looking down at the deed to the Chicago apartment, I could see that she was considering it. Finally, she looked up at us and smiled.
“I can’t thank you both enough,” she said. “We’d love to accept.”
We all cheered so loudly that Max came running out of the other room.
“What happened?” he asked, clearly not wanting to be left out of the celebrating.
“How would you like to stay here in Chicago, with our new friends?” Anja asked, pulling him into her lap.
Max thought about it for a moment. “Can we go to the zoo again?” he asked.
“Absolutely,” I said. “You need to show me all your favorite animals.”
Max smiled at me, and then at Stefan and then his mother. “Okay!”
Anja gave him a kiss. “Then this is what we will do, my darling. We will live here in Chicago so we can be closer to the people who care about you.”
“Aboutbothof you,” I said.
Anja nodded, clearly getting choked up again.
We stayed at the hotel for a few more hours, playing with Max and making plans with Anja to get them moved into the apartment by the end of the month.
When we left, Stefan pulled me into his arms, kissing me gently.
“I’m so proud of you. Of what you’ve accomplished.”
I kissed him back, realizing that everything in my life was finally falling into place.
Stefan
Chapter 29
Chicago disappeared beneath a layer of clouds as our plane reached its cruising altitude. I linked Tori’s fingers with mine as we eased into our first class seats, relaxing completely for the first time in…ever. Things had finally started to settle down, one major thing after another reaching closure. So much so that I’d booked us last minute tickets to the Caribbean for Tori’s Christmas Break.
