Chapter 14 - The Final Chapter
One year after the birth, we stood on the porch.
We weren't the same people.
The house was not a museum.
It was a home.
We looked at the garden Lila had planted.
The sunflowers were taller than me.
The mint was spreading, just as I’d predicted.
I realized that the greatest achievement of my life wasn't the state of my living room.
It was the warmth of the life we had built together.
I looked at my son, my daughter-in-law, and my granddaughter.
I knew I was home.
I knew I was loved.
And I knew I was finally, truly, Eleanor Whitcomb.
The house was silent, but it was a comfortable silence.
I had spent my life cleaning for guests who didn't care.
Now, I was living for a family who needed me.
And that was the most perfect life I could have ever imagined.
I went inside, grabbed a cloth, and wiped a spilled drop of juice off the counter.
I didn't curse.
I didn't panic.
I just smiled.
Spills could be cleaned.
But the bonds we had forged in the fire?
They were built to last forever.
May you like
I was ready for tomorrow.
And for once, tomorrow couldn't come soon enough.
