The drive to his parents’ house is silent. The city passes by in blurs of yellow light. Zosia stirs once, whispering something half-dreamed, maybe “Mama,” maybe nothing, and it twists something deep in me.
When we reach the house, the lights are still on. His mother opens the door in her night robe, startled at first, then softening when she sees who Piotr is carrying.
“She fell asleep in the waiting room,” I explain. “Lena said she’d be right back.” I exhale. “She wasn’t.”
His mother presses a hand to her mouth. “Boze… both of you, come in.”
His father appears behind her, weary but composed. “We’ll take her,” he says gently.
I nod, stepping inside behind Piotr. The house smells the same as it always has, lemon polish, old books, something like thyme. I kneel to take off Zosia’s shoes before Piotr carries her to the couch, laying her down with her stuffed rabbit still clutched to her chest.
“If you need anything,” Piotr says softly. I nod beside him.
His mother’s voice trembles. “Thank you, Piotr. Kasia.” Then, after a pause: “You two always were the steady kind.”
It shouldn’t sting, but it does. I don’t feel like I deserve anything, especially with Dominik in the hospital because of me, because he tried toprotectme. I smile faintly. “Try to get some rest. He’s doing better.”
At the door, his father stops us. “He talks about you both all the time. Please,come visitonce he’s home.”
“Oczywiscie,” Piotr says.Of course.I nod, throat tight.
Outside, the night presses close. Rain starts again, soft against the windshield as we sit in the car for a long moment. Piotr squeezes my hand, and that gives me just enough strength to start it.
When we drive off, I glance once in the rearview mirror, at the small house, the faint light in the window, Zosia sleeping safe inside. Then I think of Dominik in the hospital, Lena gone, and wonder if this is what endings really look like. Not with screams or closure. Just this empty feeling, and love left behind in the dark.
Chapter 68
Still Waiting
Halloween lands on a Friday this year, crisp and gold, the air smelling faintly of woodsmoke and cinnamon. It’s been a few weeks since our lives were turned upside down, and Dominik’s finally home from the hospital, still pale, still sore, but alive. That’s enough.
He’s at Mama and Tata’s tonight, sitting in a chair with a blanket over his lap while Zosia buzzes around the house in her bumblebee costume, wings crooked, antennae bouncing every time she laughs. Tata clutches his chest and pretends to faint each time she flies past him, and she breaks into giggles.
Piotr and Aga arrive next, perfectly coordinated, Scooby-Doo and Daphne, with Kacper in a tiny Shaggy onesie and Aga’s baby bump wrapped in orange fabric, a tiny Velma. The sight makes everyone laugh, even Mama, who declares they look like “four cartoons of happiness” and insists on a photo.
I’ve barely tried. A black headband with small cat ears, mascara a little heavier than usual, that’s all I could manage.
Tata notices, of course he does. He’s always been able to read me, even when I’m smiling. He squeezes my shoulder as he walks by, and that small, wordless comfort nearly breaks me.
Natalia, naturally, looks like a sin incarnate. Some dark-angel costume with lace and feathers and just enough fabric to not get arrested.When she takes a selfie by the hallway mirror, she mutters, “Sending this to Kiri,” under her breath.
Only Piotr and I are close enough to hear.
Piotr’s head snaps around. “You can’t be serious. Talking to that band after what Kasia gave up for them? Give me that phone.”
Natalia pulls it out of reach, glaring. “No. I’m an adult. And for the record, if anyone had asked me—not that either of you ever do—I’d have said Kasiashouldn’thave given up Rafe for that crazy bitch. It was stupid. That’s what I think.”
Piotr goes still. “Natalia—”
She cuts him off, voice abrupt and shaking. “It's my life.Happy Halloween.”
I feel the tears coming, but I hold them back. Natalia grabs her purse, calls out a too-bright goodbye to Mama and Tata, and slams the door behind her. They wave as if nothing’s wrong. The silence she leaves behind is almost funny, except it isn’t.
Dominik breaks it by standing, slow and careful. “I promised a certain bee some candy,” he says with that brave smile that’s become his survival tactic.
So we all go, Dominik, me, Piotr, Aga, baby Kacper bundled in the stroller, and Zosia skipping ahead with her pumpkin bucket. The breeze carries the scent of damp leaves and sugar down the street. Kids run everywhere, parents chatting on the sidewalks. The world feels almost gentle again.
Dominik jokes about what Mary must think of Halloween. “Do you think Jesus would approve?”
