Page 146 of Savior

I chose her.

I chose family.

Celia pulled the straps back up on her dress and straightened it. “Maybe once everyone goes home, we could go skinny dipping in the pond again. Now, come on, they’re waiting on us.”

We joined hands and stepped out into the late afternoon sunshine, squinting against the brightness as if we’d never seen the light.

Olivia had moved up onto Wolverine’s lap, entrusting him with her fishing pole while she dozed open-mouthed on his shoulder.

Zane said something to Mikey, their laughs carrying across the breeze. Lauren and Dakota worked on setting the large picnic table that Mikey and I built together, while Lauren’s Abuelita and Little Ricky provided direction. Torch and Lou stood with Lucy, the three of them admiring something in Celia’s flowerbeds.

Nate was sitting on a lawn chair by the paddling pool with Kate on his lap and their feet in the water, neither complaining as Thor pretended to be a shark and splashed them. Charlie was still working on Hazel’s arms, their little heads bent together under the shade of a pecan tree.

Bear’s bike was parked near mine, but he and Molly were nowhere to be seen. Probably making use of the open bathroom.

“It’s what you wanted,” I said, more to myself, as I took it all in.

Celia’s head popped up. “How’d you know?”

I exhaled a soft laugh. “It’s what I always imagined family looked like, what I wanted more than anything.”

“Me too,” she mused, tightening her hold on me. “They say you don’t know the value of a moment until it’s a memory, but this right here?” She mashed her lips together. “This is something I’ll remember for the rest of my life.”

“Hey, Mama,” I said, looking at the life we’d built. “We did it. Now, what do you say we take those little ones for a spin on the old bike before dinner?”

I used to think that if I had a chance to do it all over, I would’ve found her sooner, that I would’ve tried to be someone else. I’d lived my life in scenarios, always wondering how much better things would’ve been had I made different choices.

It struck me now, that even with the mistakes I’d made, I still had this. I’d taken all the wrong paths only to find that they all led me home.

They’d led me to my family.

Keep reading for a special bonus chapter…

Bonus Chapter

Angel

I spluttered as a stream of water hit me in the face before sitting up with a sharp gasp, suddenly wide awake. The sprinkler began moving away from me, and I patted along my chest, taking stock of my injuries.

My t-shirt was white, not a trace of blood anywhere. I poked two fingers into my chest, waiting for the inevitable sting of pain, but felt nothing.

“Hey, Charlie. Took a bit of spill, did you?”

I looked across the lawn and toward the small brownstone in confusion. Nobody had called me by my given name since Mary.

The man stood on his front stoop, hand held up in a wave. He was wearing a vintage bowling shirt and khaki shorts that were rolled up his thigh to the point of being obscene. A cigarette hung from the corner of his mouth, but there wasn’t an ounce of suspicion in his eyes.

“You know me?” I ran my fingers over my kutte, surprised to find the leather firm as if I hadn’t been wearing the damn thing for the past fifty years.

He exhaled a stream of smoke and pointed at me with a wide grin. “Is this another one of your practical jokes? Careful now, the sprinkler’s coming back your way.”

Convinced I was dreaming, I patted the lawn, letting the blades of grass tickle my palms. When that failed to wake me up, I got to my feet and stumbled over to the sidewalk.

“Oh, I get it. You’re still trying to guess how I get it so green. It’s nothing more than a little elbow grease, you know?”

I nodded along, not really paying attention as I studied the 1970 Plymouth Barracuda parked in his driveway. Damn thing looked practically new. “You restore this yourself?”

He chuckled and exhaled a puff of smoke. “Now, I know you’re pulling my leg. What’s gotten into you? Been hitting the Mary Jane a bit early today?”

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