Chapter 15 - Two Hearts Beating as One
Claire did not drop to her knees in sorrow; she sank down in overwhelming, radiant triumph. She opened her arms wide, catching Lily as the little girl leaped into her embrace. The impact knocked the breath from her lungs in the most beautiful way imaginable, sending both of them tumbling gently onto the sunlit floorboards.
Lily buried her face in Claire’s neck, her small hands wrapping tightly around her mother’s knit collar. Claire wrapped her arms around her daughter’s back, pressing the child’s small chest flush against her own. She buried her face in the soft crook of Lily’s shoulder, tears soaking into the pastel pink fabric of the dress. David stepped into the doorway behind them, resting his large, protective hands on Claire’s trembling shoulders, completing the circle that had been broken for so long.
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Lily pulled back slightly, her cheeks wet with shared tears, and placed her small, warm palm flat against Claire’s chest. Claire smiled through her weeping, reached into her cardigan pocket, and retrieved the small, worn square of pink felt. She placed it gently between Lily’s tiny hands, closing the child’s fingers over it.
"Here it is, sweet girl," Claire whispered, her voice ringing clear and steady through the quiet house. "I brought your heart back. Safe, whole, and full of tomorrow." Lily smiled, pressed the felt square against her own chest, and rested her head once more against her mother's collarbone. In the quiet warmth of the hallway, their two hearts beat together in perfect, unbreakable unison.
