Chapter One Hundred Forty-Four: The Grandmother
Lina had not expected to love being a grandmother so much.
She had loved being a mother. She had loved the chaos and the noise and the endless demands of raising twins. But being a grandmother was different. It was quieter. It was softer. It was the joy of watching a new life unfold without the exhaustion of being responsible for every moment of it.
She visited Grace every week.
She held her and sang to her and read her stories. She watched her grow from a newborn who slept most of the day to a baby who smiled and laughed and reached for her toys.
"She has your eyes," Lina said to Lily one afternoon, as Grace lay on a blanket, kicking her feet.
Lily looked at her daughter. "She has Jake's nose."
"She has your stubbornness."
Lily laughed. "She gets that from you."
Lina smiled. "Probably."
---
Grace said her first word at nine months.
"Mama," she said, reaching for Lily.
Lily cried. Jake cried. Lina cried.
"She said her first word," Lily said, holding Grace in her arms.
Lina hugged her daughter. "She did."
"She said 'Mama.'"
Lina's eyes filled with tears. "She knows who loves her."
Lily hugged her back. "She does."
---
Grace took her first steps at thirteen months.
She wobbled across the living room, her arms outstretched, her face determined. Lily and Jake cheered. Lina clapped.
"She's walking," Lily said.
"She's walking," Lina agreed.
Lily looked at her mother. "How did you do it? How did you watch us grow up without falling apart?"
Lina thought about the question.
"I did fall apart," she said. "Many times. But I also learned. I learned that growing up is what children are supposed to do. And that letting them go is what parents are supposed to do."
Lily's eyes filled with tears.
"I don't want her to grow up," she said.
Lina put her arm around her daughter.
"She will," she said. "But she'll always come back. They always come back."
---
Lina started a tradition.
Every Sunday, she took Grace to the park. They fed the ducks. They swung on the swings. They walked along the path and looked at the flowers.
Lina told Grace stories. Stories about the twins when they were small. Stories about the family. Stories about love and loss and healing.
Grace listened, wide-eyed, not understanding the words but understanding the feeling.
"You're going to be a storyteller," Lina said one day.
Grace smiled.
Lina smiled back.
---
Leo visited more often.
He brought books for Grace—board books about animals and colors and the solar system. He read to her in his quiet voice, explaining the pictures, answering her babbles.
"She's going to be a scientist," he said.
Lily laughed. "She's going to be whatever she wants to be."
Leo nodded. "That's true. But she's also going to be a scientist."
Lily shook her head.
Lina watched them and felt her heart swell.
---
Victoria was a great-grandmother.
She held Grace in her arms, her eyes bright, her smile wide.
"I never thought I would see this day," she said.
Lina sat beside her. "Neither did I."
Victoria looked at her. "You gave me this. You gave me a family."
Lina took her hand.
"We gave each other a family," she said. "That's what love does."
Victoria's eyes filled with tears.
"I love you," she said.
Lina squeezed her hand.
"I love you too," she said.
---
Grace's first birthday was a celebration.
The penthouse was filled with people—Victoria and Victor and Katherine, David and his half-siblings, Maya and her mother, Emily and Hope, friends and neighbors and the particular chaos of a family that had something to celebrate.
Grace sat in her high chair, wearing a paper crown, smashing cake with her hands.
Lily laughed. Jake took photographs. Lina cried.
"She's perfect," Lina said.
Ethan put his arm around her.
"She is," he said. "Just like her mother."
Lina leaned into him.
"Just like her grandmother," she said.
---
That night, after everyone had gone home, Lina sat on the couch with Ethan.
The penthouse was quiet. The twins were grown. Grace was asleep in Lily's arms.
"How do you feel?" Ethan asked.
"Full," Lina said. "Not from the cake. From... everything. From watching her grow. From seeing her shine."
Ethan put his arm around her. "She gets it from you."
"Get what?"
"The shining. The confidence. The ability to stand in front of a room full of people and not be afraid."
Lina leaned into him. "She gets it from you too."
"Maybe. Or maybe she gets it from herself. Maybe she's just who she's supposed to be."
Lina thought about that.
She thought about Grace, the baby. Lily, the mother. Leo, the scientist. All of them perfect, just as they were.
"I can't wait to see who she becomes," Lina said.
Ethan kissed her forehead.
"Neither can I," he said.
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End of Chapter One Hundred Forty-Four