Page 124 of Iron Roses

Giovanna pulls back just enough to look at me. She nods once. Her thumb brushes a tear from my cheek.

She turns her head.

“Look.”

She points toward the sky.

A shimmer pulls open like a curtain of water folding back.

Through it, I see the ocean. A dock.

Cassian. He’s looking around desperately. He dives into the water and then comes up again, gasping.

Giovanna’s hand stays over mine.

“He loves you.”

My mouth opens. “I—”

“I’ll be right there with you. Every day. You won’t lose me.”

My fingers fist the fabric of her dress. My voice breaks. “You promise?”

Giovanna nods. Her chin trembles.Behind her, our parents step closer.

My mother’s arm slips around my father’s. His smile hasn’t faded. Hers is tired at the edges, but kind.

They stop in front of me and Giovanna steps back to let me have space. My mother stares at me.

“I asked Giovanna to forgive me,” she says softly, voice floating like a leaf on water. “I was cruel.”

My mother’s hand rests at the side of my face. Her thumb strokes the curve of my cheek, just like she used to when I’d cry too hard to breathe. Her eyes are glassy, lips pressed to keep from trembling.

“I want to ask that you forgive me,” she says. “For switching your destinies. I was selfish.”

Her fingers tighten slightly.

“I didn’t want to lose you,” she whispers. “So I gave away something that was never mine to choose.”

Behind her, my father shifts closer. The lines on his face are deeper, but softer. His voice is low.

“Forgive me,” he says, “for throwing my pain at you. I was a coward.”

His shoulders bow as he speaks. Like he’s finally laying something down after carrying it too long.

The tightness in my chest unravels all at once. My body folds forward and the tears come. My legs can’t hold me. I reach for them both, hands clutched at their sides, arms wrapping around their waists.

They gather me in.

My mother kisses the top of my head. My father’s arms close tight around my shoulders. Their bodies are warm, solid. No ghosts here. No memory.

Giovanna joins the circle, her arms folding around my back. Her cheek presses to mine. Her hand strokes between my shoulders.

I don’t know whose lips find my forehead first. My mother. My sister. My father. They come one after another. We stay like that for a minute, then my father’s palm moves to my jaw. He tilts my face gently upward.

His eyes hold no hesitation.

“It’s time to go.”

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