Part 4
Months later, Lily drew a picture.
Three people.
A man. A woman. A little girl.
Holding hands.
At the top, she wrote: My Family.
I stared at it for a long time.
“Do you want this?” she asked.
My voice caught. “Yes.”
Very much.
Part 5
The proposal came in spring.
Not flashy.
Not dramatic.
Just honest.
“I built my life to be controlled,” Alexander said, standing in front of me. “Efficient. Predictable.”
He looked at Lily, then back at me.
“You changed that.”
My heart was already racing.
“She changed it first,” he added softly.
I glanced at my daughter.
She grinned. “I told you.”
He turned back to me, holding a small ring box.
“I don’t want the life I had before you,” he said. “I want this one. With both of you.”
My eyes filled with tears.
“Will you marry me?”
Lily whispered loudly, “Say yes.”
I laughed through my tears.
“Yes.”
