The last time Alexa saw her mother, she was five years old.
It was a gray, windy afternoon — the kind of day when even the trees seemed to whisper that something terrible was about to happen.

Her mother stood on Grandma Rose’s porch, her hands trembling as she zipped up Alexa’s little pink coat. “You’ll be safe here, baby,” she whispered, avoiding her daughter’s eyes.
Alexa, clutching her stuffed bunny, didn’t understand what was happening — only that her mother’s voice sounded different, thinner, like she was talking from far away.

“Mommy, are we coming back home after this?” she asked, her voice wobbling.

Her mother pressed a kiss to her forehead but didn’t answer. She turned, tears streaking down her cheeks, and walked toward a car where a man was waiting — the man who, Alexa would later learn, didn’t want children.

The engine started. The car door slammed.
And then she was gone.

Grandma Rose scooped Alexa into her arms before she could chase after the car. “Hush, sweetheart,” Grandma murmured. “You’ve got me now.”

From that day on, Grandma Rose became her entire world — mother, father, best friend, and safe place all in one.

A Childhood Built on Love and Ghosts

Alexa grew up in a small town where everyone knew everyone’s story. People whispered about her mother — “that poor child’s mama ran off to start a new life” — but Grandma Rose never spoke ill of her. She’d only say, “Some people run from love, Lexie. But we? We stay and make it grow.”

And Grandma did.

She braided Alexa’s hair before school every morning, always finishing with a pink ribbon. She packed homemade lunches, clapped the loudest at school plays, and hugged Alexa so tightly it almost made up for the missing years.

Almost.

Because no matter how loved she was, Alexa still kept a small shoebox under her bed — filled with crayon drawings of her mother.
Pictures of a woman holding hands with a smiling little girl.
A house by the sea.
A family that never existed.

Every birthday, Alexa would take that box out, trace her tiny handprints on the paper, and whisper, “Maybe next year.”

The Day Everything Fell Apart

When Alexa was twenty-five, Grandma Rose fell ill.
It started with forgetfulness — burned pies, lost keys — but soon, the woman who had held Alexa’s entire world together began to fade away.

Alexa quit her job to care for her full-time. She read to her, brushed her silver hair, and played her favorite old love songs.

But one spring morning, the house felt different — too still.
The clock ticked louder than usual. The birds outside sang softer.
And when Alexa entered Grandma’s room, she knew.

She sank to the floor beside the bed, her tears soaking into the old quilt. “Don’t leave me too,” she whispered. “Please, not you.”

For days after the funeral, the house felt empty — not just of sound, but of warmth. Every corner carried Grandma’s scent — lavender and soap — and every creak in the floorboards felt like a memory echoing back.

Alexa thought she’d learned to live with absence. She thought she’d built armor thick enough to protect her heart.
But she wasn’t ready for what came next.

A Knock After Twenty Years

Three weeks after Grandma’s funeral, there was a knock at the door.
When Alexa opened it, she froze.