Page 56 of Free to Fall

Laura:

For the record, Bailey’s idea was to have a vacuum deliver all the sand to your backyard.

Liam:

Thanks for saving my yard.

Laura:

No problem. See you at home.

Home. I like that word. With Bailey there, and knowing Laura’s going to be with her, it has a whole different meaning.

Yes, you sure will.

I can’t wait to get there, see her. Reconcile the siren with the doctor.

Part of me wonders what other surprises Laura plans on springing on us.

Chapter

Twenty-Six

I hear a car slow down outside of Liam’s house as I finish polishing Bailey’s toenails. The tan on her skin makes her green eyes pop as much as the sea foam color I’m painting with care. She admires my handiwork before saying, “Today was sooo much fun, Laura.”

“What number was that?”

“You just finished stroke fifty-one, fifty-two, fifty-three, fifty-four, and fifty-five.”

“Great job counting.” I blow across her toes before agreeing. “I thought so.”

She squeals in delight. “I really like Cia.”

I know Aunt Jilly won’t mind if I share a little of Cia’s background with another little girl who has been through her own trauma. “Cia’s one brave cookie.”

“Like me?”

“You’re your father’s brave buttercup,” I correct. I remember first time I saw Cia, all swaddled up in the burn unit. “I met Cia when she was about six months old.”

Bailey frowns. “I thought she’s your niece.”

I hold out a hand, and Bailey places her little one in it. With careful strokes, I polish her tiny nails. “My family is enormous, but not everyone is related biologically. Do you know what adopted means?”

The confusion that swamped her features is swept away. “Does it mean standing in front of a judge and agreeing to become a family?”

“That’s part of it. Actually, if you’re lucky, that’s the very best part of it—announcing your relationship to the whole world. For us, for my family, it means finding loved ones no matter who they are or where they come from. Sometimes, it’s people you’re related to because they have the same mommy, daddy, aunt, uncle, cousin—that biological.”

“Like me and Daddy,” she chirps.

“Exactly.” Then I lean forward as if I’m telling her the most important secret in the world, and maybe I am. “But if you’re lucky—if you’re really blessed—you’ll have people in your life who are family simply because they love you with their whole heart. That’s the kind of family Aunt Jilly, Uncle Brett, and Cia are to me.” In my mind, I tack on, Not to mention so many others.

She purses her tiny lips in concentration, bringing me out of my thoughts. “Has Cia always been in a wheelchair?”

“Yes, sweetheart.”

“What happened to her?”

“She was in an accident.”

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