“I’d like that,” I said.

I walked to the front door, pulling my wool coat tight around me.

Outside, the air was crisp, the smell of pine strong in the afternoon sun.

I turned back to look at the family one last time.

Nathan was sitting on a packed crate, Emma and Lily on his lap, while Sophie and Grace leaned against his shoulders.

They were smiling.

The frozen legacy of their mother was no longer a cage of code and servers.

It was alive in them.

And they were finally free to grow.

I stepped out onto the porch, closed the heavy door behind me, and walked down the steps toward my car, ready for my own new beginning.