ROSETTE’S POV
Maya beamed, and it was the most heartbreaking thing I’d ever seen.
A six-year-old who had just lost her mother, finding comfort in the idea that mommy had been promoted to something magical, something important, something worth waiting a whole lifetime to see again.
“I knew it,” Maya said with satisfaction. “I told James but he didn’t believe me. I said mommy’s too cool to just be gone. She had to go somewhere cool.”
I couldn’t speak. Couldn’t breathe. This six-year-old had found a way to make death bearable by turning it into an adventure her mother was having without them, just for now, just until they were old enough to join her.
“That’s the most beautiful drawing I’ve ever seen,” I whispered, and I meant it.
Maya nodded seriously, then carefully placed it back on t
