"Yes, ma"am," said Andy, eyes tearing up again. Lea and Kirsten both hugged him.
The doctor strode back into the ICU, promising to let them know if anything changed, looking somehow less tired than she had when Lea had first seen her.
Violet was crying too, but smiling.
"You okay, Mama?" asked Kirsten.
"Never better," said Violet, but then looked down.
Lea"s breath caught. "Violet?"
Sean and Kirsten"s mother squared her shoulders and looked back up — looking much more like herself. "I feel," she said, "as if I"m walking around without any clothes on. I"ve spent my whole adult life afraid that my children would find out that I am, you know..." A brief sigh, squelched with determination. "And now everyone knows, and the only person who seems to care is you"re father, Kirsten. And he al
