Haley
Nora, Rae, and Millie became my lifelines as they answered my frantic texts when the girls came down with the flu.
Colson was over a few days after that when I became ill myself.
As the weeks passed, something in me began to weave together––something solid, strong and vulnerable all at once.
I felt it pull together at night, after the girls went to bed, when I would pick up after them.
The house was silent and I had time to really think.
Day after day, it solidified even more as I fell into the mother-figure role for the girls.
My mind slowly began to cut the distance between myself as an outsider and claimed the girls as my own.
In my head, I went from referring to them as the girls to my girls, and by the time I realized I was doing it, it was too late.
I was happy.
Happy even without Liam. I missed him. I ached for him.
But Maddy, Seraphina and Mila made me feel whole.
These girls were filling in deep holes, ruts, and gaping canyons in my heart. My love for them was big, and scary—but it was vast and real too.
Then my brother proposed to Nora, and suddenly it felt like too much.
Liam was missing everything.