Chapter 22
HOLLY
Isat cross-legged on my bed (not the guest bed anymore, just my bed) trying to process what had just happened. Eden had followed me upstairs and now lay with her head in my lap, her warm weight anchoring me when I felt like I might float away.
"They want to adopt me," I whispered to Eden, testing how the words felt in the air. "Like, for real adopt me."
Eden thumped her tail against the comforter, utterly unconcerned with the fact that my entire world had just shifted.
I'd known they were considering it. I'd even brought it up first, in that tentative way of asking without really asking.
But hearing them say it out loud, watching their faces as they talked about making me permanently part of their family.
It was different. Real in a way that daydreams and maybes never could be.
"What do you think about becoming our daughter, Holly? Not just our niece, but our daughter in every way?" Aunt Elyse had asked, her voice steady but her eyes betraying how much the question meant to her.
Uncle Drew had added, "No pressure. This is completely your choice. But we want you to know that we're all in, no matter what your mom decides about her parental rights."
I traced my fingers over the soft purple throw blanket they'd let me pick out when we repainted the room.
My room. When we'd gone shopping that day, I'd been careful not to choose anything too expensive, still half-convinced that this was all temporary.
That's how it had always been before—the times when my mom was "getting better," the stays with Grandma and Grandpa that were supposed to be "just until things settle down. "
I'd learned not to get attached to places. Not to put holes in walls for pictures. Not to unpack completely.
But here, in this house with its matching towels and fully stocked pantry and family movie nights, I'd started to forget those lessons. I'd started to hope.
And now they wanted to make it official. Permanent. Forever.
My phone buzzed on the nightstand, a text from Jenna asking if I'd be at the bakery tomorrow.
Such a normal, everyday thing. But it struck me suddenly how many normal, everyday things I now had in my life.
A job. Friends. A dog who followed me from room to room like I was the center of her universe.
I had people who noticed when I was quiet. Who celebrated when I succeeded. Who didn't disappear when things got hard.
I texted Jenna back:
Definitely. I want to try those lemon scones again
then set my phone down and stared at the cork board above my desk. It was covered with photos I'd taken, ticket stubs from movies with Drew and Elyse, the employee schedule from the bakery. Evidence of a life being built, not just survived.
A soft knock at the door pulled me from my thoughts.
"Come in," I called, and Aunt Elyse peeked her head in.
"Just checking to see if you're okay," she said. "That was a big conversation downstairs."
I nodded, suddenly fighting back tears I hadn't realized were so close to the surface.
She must have noticed, because she crossed the room and sat beside me on the bed, careful to leave a little space between us. Like Paige, she never crowded me, another thing I loved about her.
"It's okay if you need time to think about it," she said. "Or if you have questions. Or concerns. Or anything, really."
I took a deep breath. "What if my mom comes back?"
It was the question that had been lurking at the edges of my mind. Because despite everything—the missed birthdays and broken promises, despite the current silence—a small part of me was still waiting. Still hoping.
Aunt Elyse nodded, understanding in her eyes.
"If your mom comes back and she's healthy and able to maintain a relationship with you, we'll figure it out together.
This adoption, if it's what you want, doesn't erase her.
It just gives you more people who are legally and emotionally committed to you. "
"More people legally required to listen to my terrible taste in music," I joked weakly.
She smiled. "That's the primary benefit, yes."
I fidgeted with Eden's ear, running the soft fur between my fingers. "I do want it," I admitted quietly. "To be adopted. To be your daughter. I just—"
"You don't want to betray your mom," she finished for me.
I nodded, relieved that she understood without me having to explain.
"Holly, the capacity to love isn't finite. It's not a pie with only so many slices to go around. Your love for your mom, that will always be there. And it doesn't take anything away from what you feel for us, or what we feel for you."
Something loosened in my chest at her words. Like a knot I'd been carrying had finally come undone.
"When I was little," I said slowly, "before things got really bad, my Mom used to tell me that no matter what happened, I would always be her daughter. That it was like a permanent marker—it couldn't be erased."
Aunt Elyse nodded, waiting for me to continue.
"I think I'm afraid that if I became your daughter, I'd be erasing that. Like I'd be admitting she's never coming back." I wiped at a tear that had escaped down my cheek. "But that's not how it works, is it?"
"No," Aunt Elyse said gently. "It's more like... adding. Not replacing."
I thought about my photography class, about multiple exposures, two images layered over each other, creating something new while preserving the originals.
"I want to be your daughter," I said, the words coming easier now. "Yours and Uncle Drew's. For real. Permanently."
Aunt Elyse's eyes filled with tears, but her smile was radiant. "We want that too. So much."
She opened her arms, and I leaned into them, letting myself be held. Eden, not wanting to be left out, squirmed between us, making us both laugh.
"Does this mean I get to redecorate my room again?" I asked, thinking of all the ideas I'd been suppressing. The wall of floating shelves for my photography equipment. The dark room I wanted to set up in the spare closet.
"Absolutely," Aunt Elyse said. "Though maybe we wait until the paint is fully dry from the last time?"
I laughed, feeling lighter than I had in... maybe ever. "Deal."
There was another knock at the door, and Uncle Drew poked his head in. "Everything okay in here? I heard laughter, which I choose to interpret as a good sign."
"Everything's great," I said, and meant it. "We were just discussing my plans to turn this room into a full-scale photography studio complete with darkroom and professional lighting setup."
Uncle Drew groaned theatrically. "I knew this adoption thing was going to cost me." But he was smiling as he came to sit on my other side, making the bed dip dramatically. Eden immediately abandoned Aunt Elyse to climb into his lap, shameless traitor that she was.
"Seriously though," he said, once he'd settled. "This feels right to me. The three of us. But only if you're sure."
I looked between them—these two people who had taken in a sullen, pink-haired teenager without hesitation. Who had given me space when I needed it and boundaries when I pushed. Who had shown me what family could be when it wasn't clouded by addiction and chaos.
"I'm sure," I said, and this time, no tears threatened. Just certainty, as clear and sharp as a perfectly focused photograph. "I want to be a Bennett. Officially."
Uncle Drew's arm came around my shoulders, and Aunt Elyse reached for my hand, and for a moment we just sat there, the three of us (four, counting Eden), connected and still.
Permanence. After a lifetime of temporary, of "we'll see," of holding my breath and waiting for the other shoe to drop, this was what it felt like to know I wasn't going anywhere. That they weren't going anywhere.
This was what it felt like to be home.