Dante and I looked at each other.
"Thank you," I said. "For choosing us. For choosing this name and everything it represents."
"I'm not choosing you. You're my parents. That's not a choice. But I am choosing to be proud of where I come from. Of what we've survived. Of what we're building."
"You're wiser than both of us combined."
"Obviously. But you did okay. For two people who started as a transaction."
"We did better than okay. We did extraordinary."
She stood up, stretched. "I'm exhausted. Going to bed. But Mama, Papa thank you. For this life. For this family. For all of it."
After she went inside, Dante pulled me close.
"We did it. We raised an incredible human being."
"We did. Somehow."
"Not somehow. Through work. Through love. Through showing her that people can change. That second chances matter. That family is everything."
"Do you think it's over? The danger? The threats? All of it?"
