Chapter 150

• Gio
• They hold each other, both crying as I stand back and watch; providing them the space to become reacquainted. I know how much this means to Fenice, having him back with her after all this time. I know losing him and her mother had taken apart her heart that I could never fill, no matter how hard I tried or how hard I loved her. That was a space only a parent could fill, so I was always afraid that part of her heart would remain hollow. But with him here, I don’t have to worry about that anymore.
• “Sweetheart,” her father says, but Fenice doesn’t budge. She keeps holding him as if she is afraid he will disappear if she lets him go.