LOGINAvaline felt a cold rush through her body when Gabriella said she had dreamed about her being gone. She immediately moved closer and brushed the damp curls away from her daughter’s forehead. Gabriella looked frightened, but she was also exhausted, and Dr. Carter had already warned them that a high fever could cause strange dreams and confusion. Avaline reminded herself of that as she asked Gabriella what she had seen. Gabriella struggled to explain it in the simple way a four-year-old could, saying that she had been in a big house by herself and kept looking for Mommy, but every door she opened led to another empty room. Then she had heard Eliam calling her, but when she ran toward him, he disappeared too. She finally found Noah outside, but he was leaving in a car and could not hear her calling him.Avaline’s eyes filled with tears, but she kept her voice calm. She told Gabriella that it had only been a bad dream caused by being sick, and she was right there with her. Gabriella looke
Gabriella woke before sunrise crying because her head hurt. Avaline was beside her within seconds, but the moment she touched Gabriella’s forehead, fear rushed through her. Gabriella was burning hot, her cheeks were flushed and her little body was trembling beneath the blanket. She tried to sit up but immediately became dizzy and fell against Avaline. Her eyes looked heavy, and when Avaline asked what was wrong, Gabriella only whispered that her stomach hurt. Rabbit was trapped beneath her arm, and even holding him seemed to take too much strength.Eliam rushed into the room when he heard Avaline call his name. He took one look at Gabriella and stopped asking questions. He picked her up carefully while Avaline grabbed a blanket, but Gabriella suddenly vomited against his shoulder. She was too weak to cry afterward. That frightened Avaline more than the vomiting itself because Gabriella was normally loud, curious and impossible to keep still. Now she simply rested her head against Elia
Gabriella noticed the empty chair at breakfast before anyone else did. She climbed onto her seat, placed Rabbit beside her plate and kept looking toward the doorway, waiting for Noah to appear with his usual sleepy face and messy hair. When he did not come, she frowned and asked Avaline where Uncle Noah was. Avaline reminded her that Noah had left for Washington to start his new job, but Gabriella immediately asked why he could not work from home. Eliam explained that his new job required him to be there, and Gabriella looked at him as though he had personally designed the rule. After a moment, she asked when Noah was coming back, and Avaline gave her the date. Gabriella reached for the family calendar, circled it in red and then circled the following weekend too because, according to her, one visit was not enough.Before leaving for school, Gabriella secretly put Rabbit inside her backpack. Avaline discovered him at the school entrance and asked why she had brought him when she knew
Noah read Tessa’s message again, and a nervous smile spread across his face. He had expected her to congratulate him, but he had not expected her to ask for a proper goodbye. He replied that he would meet her the next afternoon, then placed his phone on the table and stared at the acceptance form still open on his laptop. Washington, D.C. was no longer just a city written on a contract. It was where his new life would begin, and for the first time, that thought made him excited instead of afraid.The next afternoon, Noah found Tessa waiting outside a small café near the training center. She smiled when she saw him and asked whether he had spent the whole morning thinking about leaving. Noah admitted that he had, and she told him she had done the same. They ordered coffee and sat near the window, talking about everything except work. Tessa asked about his family, and Noah told her about Avaline, Gabriella and Eliam, explaining how strange it felt to have a family that was finally safe
THE CHOICE HE HAD TO MAKENoah remained seated across from the program director, staring at the two offers on the desk while his mind moved through everything that had happened since he arrived. The Boston position would give him stability, a permanent salary and the chance to remain close to Avaline and the family. The specialist position would move him into a much more demanding cybersecurity division, give him access to senior analysts and place him on a faster career track, but it would require him to relocate. The director did not pressure him to choose either option. He simply explained that Noah had demonstrated an unusual ability to recognize patterns in complex systems and that the specialist team wanted to develop that ability further. Noah asked several questions about the position, the relocation, the training requirements and how quickly he would be expected to work independently before taking the envelope and leaving the office.He found Marcus and Tessa outside the asse
HIS OWN CHOICEBy the time Noah arrived at the training center, the morning had disappeared into a blur of highways, unfamiliar buildings and instructions coming through his phone. The company had redirected him to a private facility because the Boston intake had filled unexpectedly, but the change came with an opportunity he had not expected. Instead of simply starting as a junior cybersecurity analyst, he had been placed in an accelerated eight-week program that would prepare him for network security, threat detection, data protection and incident response before he moved into the permanent role. Noah had always been good with computers, but he had never seriously imagined turning that interest into a career. Now he had a contract, a training schedule and a real chance to build something that belonged entirely to him.The facility was larger than he expected, with computer laboratories, classrooms, meeting rooms, a fitness center and outdoor grounds where the trainees completed prac







