Later that night, after most had gone to bed or left, I sat alone at the kitchen table.
Charlotte’s letter was still there.
I picked it up again, tracing her handwriting.
For years, I thought our story had ended without closure.
But now I understood—we had simply taken different paths.
And somehow, they led back to each other.
I smiled softly. “You always did things your own way.”
“Talking to Mom again?” Mia’s voice came from behind me.
I turned. She was leaning against the doorway.
“Something like that,” I said.
She sat across from me. “She used to talk about you.”
“Oh yeah?”
“She said you were the only person who ever truly understood her.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Sounds like her.”
“She was right,” Mia said gently.
“About what?”
She smiled. “About you.”
I didn’t answer.
I didn’t need to.
For the first time in a long time… I believed it.
The next morning, I woke up and sent a message to our family group chat:
“Breakfast next Sunday. All of you. No excuses.”
The replies came instantly—laughing, complaining, agreeing.
I smiled.
For the first time in years, I felt like nothing was missing anymore.
