Mark converted part of the garage into storage so the house felt less crowded.
They painted the kitchen.
Nothing dramatic.
But Emily wanted the house to feel like somewhere they had entered together rather than somewhere she had retreated from and reluctantly returned to.
Mark kept knocking sometimes even after she moved home.
Once, while carrying groceries inside, Emily caught him knocking on the open back door.
She stared at him.
“You live here.”
“Habit.”
She laughed.
“Come inside, Mark.”
“I have written authorization?”
“Don’t push it.”
Two years after the triplets were born, the Carter family returned to the hospital.
Not because anyone was sick.
Dr. Patel was retiring.
Emily had received an invitation to a small reception honoring her decades of work.
She almost declined.
Then she changed her mind.
Grace, Lily, and Faith walked into the maternity wing holding hands.
The nurses adored them immediately.
Dr. Patel crouched down.
