She hugged him.
Soon Lily appeared.
Then Grace.
For one brief second, Noah looked at them and saw babies again.
Three tiny faces.
Three lives that once depended entirely on him.
Then the image disappeared.
Standing before him were three grown women.
Strong.
Independent.
Kind.
They had dreams Noah couldn’t choose for them and futures he couldn’t control.
And that was exactly how it was supposed to be.
For twenty-two years, Noah had secretly feared the day they would stop needing him.
When that day arrived, he discovered that he had misunderstood what growing up meant.
They still needed him.
Just differently.
They didn’t need him to make their lunches anymore.
They didn’t need him to drive them to school.
They didn’t need him to solve every problem.
Now they needed him as the person they could call after a difficult day.
The man who knew their history.
The person who had stayed.
