Savannah
“Dad?” I said, my voice cracking.
He turned. His face lit up, and without a word, I ran into his arms.
“Grandpa!” the boys shouted behind me, and they followed.
The hug we shared wasn’t clean or graceful. It was full of exhaustion and held-together strength, the kind that breaks when held too long. When we finally pulled apart, I turned and noticed the silence behind me.
My mother stood a few feet away, her arms crossed.
My father looked at her.
She looked back.
They didn’t speak. They didn’t need to.
Something deep passed between them, something old and unfinished. Not love. Not yet hate. Just... something.
And for a second, I wondered if this was how Xavier and I would end. Soulmates broken by life’s sharp turns.
“They’ll be safe here,” my mother said to me. “As for y
