For 4 years, I picked up my sister’s kids from school for free. One day I was 37 minutes late, and she screamed at me in front of them: “Not with my children!” Then she shoved me out of her house. I stopped picking them up. 11 days later, the school called me. Then my sister called 6 times. I turned my phone face down.

Her face lit up.

“Dad! I’m buying dinner!”

Dan turned away, pretending to look at the clouds.

But I could see him wiping his eyes.

Ruby carefully emptied the money into a bag and handed me the jar with its handmade label.

Then she hugged me again.

I watched them climb back into Dan’s truck.

The booster seats were securely fastened in the back.

As they drove away, I stood in the parking lot holding an empty glass jar.

It was worth almost nothing.

Yet it was one of the most meaningful gifts I’d ever received.

I placed it on my kitchen windowsill.

And I kept it there.

## Epilogue: The Life I Finally Chose

Several months have passed.

It’s April now.

The glass jar Ruby gave me sits on my kitchen windowsill, filled with bright yellow tulips.

The handwritten label is still attached.

**AUNT MICAH’S PAY.**