It felt normal.
Comforting, even.
Melanie handed me a coffee without asking. Our silent truce had slowly melted into something softer.
Friendship, maybe.
Or at least mutual respect.
“You good?” she asked quietly, as Logan sprinted past us on the field.
“Yeah. Better, actually,” I nodded, brushing stray hair from my face.
She gave a faint smile, her eyes never leaving Logan.
“He misses you when he’s not here.”
I swallowed hard. I didn’t want to get emotional in public, but it hit deep.
“I miss him, too.”
Melanie nudged my arm gently, her tone warmer.
“You’re still his bonus mom, Lila.
That doesn’t change.
Not for Logan… not for me.”
Before I could respond, Logan came barreling toward us, his face sweaty and glowing from the game. Without hesitation, he flopped into my lap like he had a hundred times before.
“Did you see my goal?”
“Of course,” I said, kissing his forehead.
“You crushed it.”
He grinned and tucked himself closer, his little body warm against mine. For a second, nothing else mattered.
Not Bryan.
Not Savannah. Not the mess we all crawled through.
Just this.
Later that night, after Logan had gone to bed in the guest room now dubbed his room during weekends, the house felt still again.
I padded softly down the hallway, stopping at a small box labeled “Office Junk.”
My fingers hesitated before pulling it open. At the very bottom, beneath the old notebooks and forgotten pens, was the single brick I’d saved.
I turned it over in my hands, its cold weight somehow comforting.
Then I smiled faintly as I reached for the gold paint and carefully brushed it across the surface.
When it dried, I added the small plaque I had ordered online.
“Promotion Denied.
Family Restored.”
I placed it on my bookshelf, nestled between photo frames and Logan’s most recent macaroni art.
I stepped back, surveying my living room. It wasn’t grand.
It wasn’t part of any five-year plan or corporate ladder.
But it was peaceful. Filled with laughter on weekends.
Popcorn movie nights.
Soccer cleats by the door.
It wasn’t just a house anymore. It was a home.
What would you have done?
