Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 91 - Chapitre 100

Eliam reached Gabriella’s room first, with Avaline right behind him, and what they saw made both of them stop. Gabriella was standing beside her bed, crying so hard that her little shoulders were shaking, while one hand was pressed against her ankle. “Mommy!” she cried again, reaching toward Avaline. “It hurts!”Avaline immediately rushed to her and crouched down. “What happened, sweetheart?” Gabriella pointed at the floor through her tears. “I fell down when I was getting my rabbit, and I hit my leg.” Avaline carefully examined her ankle while Eliam knelt beside them. “Can you move it?” he asked gently. Gabriella tried, then whimpered and shook her head.Eliam lifted her carefully into his arms. “We’re going to take care of you.” Gabriella wrapped both arms around his neck, still crying. “Is it broken?” she asked fearfully. “We don’t know yet,” Avaline said, keeping her voice calm. “But Daddy is going to take you to the doctor, and Mommy is coming with you.” Gabriella looked between

Avaline barely slept that night. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw Gabriella’s tearful face and heard the small, frightened voice asking whether she was leaving. By morning, the question had settled heavily inside her chest, making it difficult to think about anything else. She lay beside Eliam, staring at the ceiling while pale sunlight slipped through the curtains, and for the first time since receiving the Boston offer, she wished the decision would simply disappear.Beside her, Eliam shifted in his sleep. His hand moved across the empty space between them until his fingers found hers, and even half-asleep, he held on. Avaline looked at their joined hands and felt another ache spread through her chest. This was what made the decision so difficult. Boston was not asking her to leave a man she barely knew anymore. It was asking her to leave the man who had become her safest place.She carefully slipped out of bed and went downstairs before anyone else woke. The house was unusua

The next few days passed faster than Avaline wanted them to. Her decision had been made, but accepting the Boston position had not made the fear disappear; if anything, every ordinary moment with Eliam and Gabriella made the approaching separation feel more real. She found herself paying attention to little things she had once taken for granted, like Eliam waiting for her before starting dinner, Gabriella climbing into her lap whenever she sat down, and the quiet way Eliam reached for her hand whenever they walked through the house. Four weeks no longer sounded like enough time. At school, however, Avaline felt different. She was happy. Truly happy. Her students had welcomed her back as if she had never left, and every day reminded her why she had accepted the Boston position. One afternoon, a little boy placed a drawing on her desk and proudly explained that the strange green building he had drawn was his underground dinosaur school. Avaline laughed so hard that the other children st

Avaline had expected Boston to feel unfamiliar. Instead, the moment she stepped out of the car in front of the school, something inside her settled. The building was smaller than her New York school, with wide windows, bright classrooms and a playground filled with children, and as she stood there listening to their laughter drifting through the morning air, she realized this was the first time she had looked at her future without immediately searching for something that could go wrong.Eliam came to stand beside her, his hand finding hers naturally. “You’re doing that thing again.”“What thing?” “Thinking so hard that you forget I’m standing beside you.”She glanced at him and smiled. “I’m imagining myself working here.” “I know.” “How?” “Because you’re smiling.” Before she could answer, Gabriella appeared beside them, clutching Rabbit beneath one arm. “Can we go inside now? I want to see Mommy’s classroom.”The principal welcomed them and led Avaline through the school, explaining t

Avaline was still staring at the final name on the registration list when Principal Lawson explained why Gabriella Blackwood had been included. The Family Learning program was designed around parents and children participating together, and after hearing about Avaline’s new role, Eliam had registered Gabriella himself because he wanted their daughter to experience the part of Boston that was becoming important to her mother. Avaline turned toward him with a mixture of surprise and affection, realizing that he had not registered Gabriella because he expected her to remain in Boston or because he was trying to interfere with Avaline’s work. He had simply wanted their daughter included, and the thought made something warm settle inside her. For so long, she had been afraid that building a life in Boston would mean creating a life away from her family, but Eliam was quietly showing her that the two did not have to be separated.Gabriella was delighted to be included and quickly became the