Chapter 38:

"Marriage is a big choice that grown-ups have to think about," I said. "But whether Mommy and Daddy are married or not, our family is strong enough to protect each other from anyone who tries to hurt us."

"Promise?"

"Promise," Mikel and I said together.

Emma finally settled down, her breathing evening out as she felt safe with us there. But just as I thought she was asleep, she spoke one more time.

"Mommy? Daddy?"

"Yes, baby?"

"If the sad lady tries to take me away... if she says I have to choose... I would choose both of you. Always both of you. Even if she promises me ice cream every day and all the toys I want."

That just broke me. Our five-year-old was ready to stand up to an adult with the loyalty of someone way older.

"You'll never have to choose, Emma," Mikel said, his voice thick. "Because no one will ever separate you from us. I promise you that."

"We both promised," I whispered, kissing her head.

This time, Emma really did fall asleep, her little hand holding both of ours. Mikel and I stayed until she was out cold, then carefully got out of her bed.

In the hallway, we stood close, trying to figure out what just happened.

"She's planning for freaking mind games," I whispered, horrified. "Our five-year-old is ready to fight mind games because some adult is terrorizing her."

"She's also showing crazy emotional intelligence and family loyalty," Mikel said quietly. "Emma knows who her real family is, and she's not going to let anyone change that."

"But she shouldn't have to be strong like that. She should be worried about kindergarten stuff, not about some psycho trying to steal her from us."

Mikel pulled me close, and I leaned into him, needing the comfort.

"We're going to end this," he said firmly. "Whatever it takes, we're going to make sure Emma can be a normal five-year-old again."

"What if we can't? What if Sophia never stops? What if Emma grows up always looking over her shoulder?"

"Then we'll teach her to be strong anyway. But I don't think it will come to that. Sophia is freaking out because she's desperate, and desperate people screw up."

I looked at him, seeing he was as pissed as I was.

"What kind of screw-ups?"

"The kind that gives us what we need to put her where she can't hurt anyone." He sounded hard. "Tonight proved that Emma's head is getting messed up by this situation. That's enough for more serious crap."

"You mean committing her?"

"I mean getting her the help she needs while protecting our family. Sophia's not evil—she's sick. But sick people can be just as dangerous as evil ones if they're not stopped."

We went downstairs, too wired to sleep. In the kitchen, Mikel made tea while I checked the security system, doing the same routines that helped calm us down.

"Mikel," I said quietly as we sat down, "what Emma said about marriage..."

"I know it's too soon," he said right away. "I know we're still fixing things and trying to figure out how it is with each other now. But when she asked if we were going to get married, my first thought was yes."

"Mine too," I admitted. "Not because it's the smart thing to do, but because making that choice to be with you again, to our family, felt right."

"Even after everything? Even knowing how badly we screwed it up the first time?"

I thought about that. We were different people now—scarred but tougher, knowing more about love, more willing to fight for what was important.

"Especially after everything," I said. "We know what it costs to lose each other now. We know what we're willing to fight for."

He looked at me, a little surprised. "Are you saying you'd say yes if I asked?"

"I'm saying Emma might be smarter than us about what our family needs."

Before he could say anything, my phone buzzed with a text from a number I didn't know. We both tensed—late-night texts had become threats.

This one was different: *I saw the lights on in your house. Trouble sleeping? Maybe you're finally figuring out that some endings are too good to be true.*

I showed Mikel the text, seeing his face get all hard and angry.

"She's watching the house right now," he said quietly. "Which means she saw Emma's room light up when she had the nightmare."

That made me sick. Sophia had been close enough to watch our kid freak out, maybe even enjoying it.

"I'm calling Lucas," Mikel said, grabbing his phone.

While he talked to his brother, I looked toward the stairs where Emma was hopefully sleeping.

But I couldn't forget her question: "Will the sad lady make Daddy go away again?"

The way she'd figured out the fear that was haunting her showed how badly adult crap could hurt little kids who couldn't do anything to protect themselves.

"Lucas is sending extra security," Mikel said, hanging up. "And tomorrow, we're going to court to ask for a restraining order that will make it a crime for Sophia to get within a mile of Emma."

"Will that be enough?"

"It's a start. But I think Emma was right about something tonight."

"What?"

He took my hands, his eyes serious and loving. "I think our family needs to make it official. Not because of Sophia, but because we want to choose each other every day for the rest of our lives."

My heart skipped a beat. "Are you asking what I think you're asking?"

"I'm asking if you'd let me do it properly, when Emma is safe and this crap is over and we can have a future without looking over our shoulders."

"And if I said I'd think about it?"

He smiled. "Then I'd say Emma is going to be the most excited flower girl in Seattle."

Despite the threats, the fear, the late-night talks, I laughed at the thought of Emma throwing flower petals with total focus.

"She's going to want to design her own dress," I said. "With dolphins and sparkles."

"Then she can have dolphins and sparkles. Whatever makes our daughter happy."

As we finished our tea and got ready to go back upstairs, I realized that Emma's nightmare had somehow changed everything. Her fear had made us say how we felt, her questions had made us think about what was important, and she had pointed us to the future we wanted.

"Mikel," I said as we got to the top of the stairs, "tomorrow, when Emma wakes up, I want to tell her that the answer is yes."

"The answer to what?"

"To whether we're going to be a family forever. I want her to know that no matter what the sad lady does, we're in this together."

His kiss was soft and full of promise. "I love you, Bella. All of you, including the fierce mama bear who's up all night protecting our daughter."

"It's you too. All of you, including the man who runs to Emma's room the second she cries and promises her the world to make her okay."

As we went back to our rooms, I stopped at Emma's door to check on her again.

She was sleeping peacefully, her dolphin toy tucked under her arm, looking relaxed. All the fear from earlier seemed gone, chased away by us.

But as I watched her, I made a promise.

Whatever it took, Emma would never have to ask if the sad lady would make Daddy go away again.

Because this time, we weren't going anywhere.

Any of us.