Masina #3
A soft knock against the bedroom door interrupted me before I could finish my sentence. The door opened, and one by one the girls began filing into the room carrying takeout bags and drinks balanced between their hands. That explained why the house had suddenly grown so quiet downstairs.
Lauren looked between me and Ysis before setting the food bags on the dresser. “Uh...Yuki just walked past us looking like she was ready to scorch the earth.”
“Y’all good?” She cocked an eyebrow.
“We’re just fine,” I responded, waving the concern away with the flick of my hand. “Pay her sorry ass no never mind. She’ll be alright.” The girls exchanged looks deciding not to ask another question.
Kayla led the way, followed closely by Bree, Lauren, Nia, their new friend Bella, and the young woman who’d arrived with her.
The moment their eyes landed on the two bassinets resting beside Ysis’s bed, the conversation dissolved into smiles, laughter, and the unmistakable sound of women completely enamored with two brand-new babies.
“Oh my God,” Kayla whispered, already making her way toward the bassinets. “Look at my niece and nephew.”
“They’re so little,” Bella breathed, covering her mouth as she leaned over for a better look.
Lauren smiled down at the twins before glancing toward Ysis. “Girl, you really did that.”
The room filled with a warmth that hadn’t existed only minutes earlier. Laughter returned. Conversations overlapped one another. Somebody started passing out food while somebody else fussed over whether Ysis had eaten enough.
Watching them crowd around my daughter and those babies, I couldn’t help but smile.
This was exactly what she’d wanted when she chose to bring them into the world here.
Home wasn’t just a place. Home was this.
It was being surrounded by people who loved you enough to fill every corner of a room without ever making it feel crowded.
“I have to go call Emory. Y’all got this?”
“Of course we do,” Kayla answered before I even finished the question. The rest of the girls nodded in agreement as they sat around Ysis, already making themselves comfortable. The doula glanced up from where she was, checking on the twins before offering me an encouraging smile.
“Handle your business, Sina. We’ll be here with her.”
I looked around the room one last time, taking in the sight of Ysis smiling through her exhaustion while the women who loved her surrounded her with enough joy to last a lifetime.
After everything she’d survived, after every lonely night she’d spent wondering where she belonged, she would never have to question that again.
“Alright,” I said with a smile. “I’ll be back soon.”
Slipping out of the room, I pulled the door closed behind me, allowing their laughter to soften into a gentle murmur as I made my way downstairs.
The weight I’d been carrying for decades no longer pressed against my chest the way it had only an hour earlier.
Some burdens weren’t meant to be carried forever, and after confronting Yuki and holding my grandchildren for the first time, I had finally laid mine down.
My purse was where I’d tossed it across the couch before everything unfolded.
Digging through it, I wrapped my fingers around my phone and noticed several missed calls and text messages from Emory waiting for me.
Knowing him, he’d been trying not to interrupt the delivery while still making sure we were alright.
I smiled to myself before pressing his name and lifting the phone to my ear.
He answered before the first ring had fully finished.
“Hey, y’all alright?”
“We’re alright. She gave birth to a beautiful baby boy and girl.”
“I can’t wait to meet them.”
“Yeah,” I replied, glancing back toward the staircase where she rested with her new little family.
“I can’t wait for you to meet them either.”
My smile faded as I remembered the conversation we’d had before tonight. “But listen...I have something to handle. Can you come get me?”
“Yeah. I’m on my way.”
The line disconnected, leaving me standing alone in the middle of the quiet living room.
Tonight had changed everything. My grandchildren had been born.
Ysis had become the mother she’d always dreamed of being.
Kade had stepped into fatherhood. One chapter of our family story had finally come to a close. Now it was time to finish another.
I made my way back upstairs, careful not to disturb anyone as I slipped into my bedroom.
Changing into fresh clothes, I stood in front of the mirror and gathered my long hair into a ponytail before securing it tight at the back of my head.
Looking back at me wasn’t the broken woman Marius had tried to destroy all those years ago.
She was gone. The woman staring back at me now had survived, had forgiven what she could, and buried what she couldn’t.
And she was finally ready to uncover the truth that had been hiding in the shadows for far too long.
After tonight, there would be no turning back.