“Bree, we are broke. We are tired. But the house feels full. I did not know what full meant until now.”
Breanna looked at the twins curled together under a blanket printed with rockets. “I think some souls find each other no matter how many wrong turns they take.”
Months later, the court finalized guardianship papers. The judge asked Milo what he wanted. Milo replied, voice steady, “I want to stay with the people who found me. And I want to keep the people who kept me alive.”
The judge smiled and stamped the papers. Breanna cried the entire drive home.
On New Year’s Eve, the first one since everything changed, Mason and Milo wore matching knit hats and held sparklers in the cold backyard. Fireworks erupted above the city in bursts of silver and crimson.
Milo whispered, “I remember the lights from before. When I could not breathe. I thought it meant I had to go. But maybe it meant I had to find my way back.”
Breanna hugged him. “You did. And we are not letting go again.”
Mason linked their hands. “Now the lights mean we made it. Together.”