The Second Time Around

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: The Children Grow

Lily was nine now. Beautiful and confident, but in a healthy way. She'd started a photography business where she photographed families doing normal things together, not posed, not curated, just real.

Her work was stunning. Raw. Honest.

A gallery in Manhattan wanted to show her work. Her parents said yes.

"My daughter the photographer," Alexander said proudly, at the opening of her exhibition. "At nine years old. I'm amazed."

Lily leaned against him. "I learned it from Mom. About telling the truth with images instead of lying. About showing what's real instead of what looks good."

"I'm proud of you," he said. "Every single day, I'm proud of you."

Ethan was thirteen now. Still brilliant. Still serious. But he'd learned how to be brilliant and fun at the same time.

He was working with a NASA scientist on a theoretical astrophysics project. His paper had been submitted to a journal. He might be published before high school.

But he was also playing soccer. Making friends. Learning how to be a human instead of just a brain.

"I'm going to be an astrophysicist," he told his parents. "But I'm also going to have a family. I'm not going to choose one over the other. I'm going to do both."

"Good," Selene said. "That's the lesson we learned."