Harrison smiled. Giving advice to other people is easy. Following it yourself is the hard part. Speaking from experience, "More than I'd like to admit," Harrison's smile faded. "I spent 20 years putting my career ahead of my daughters.
20 years of missed recitals and forgotten birthdays and broken promises. And now I'm trying to make up for it, trying to be the father I should have been all along. But I can't get that time back. I can only do better going forward. Sophie and Maya seemed to have forgiven you.
They're working on it. We all are. Harrison looked toward the house where laughter was spilling out from the blanket fort. That's what family is, Marcus. Not perfection. just people trying to do better, trying to love each other even when it's hard, trying to show up day after day, even when you failed before.
Marcus thought about those words for a long time after. 6 months after the custody hearing, Marcus stood in the living room of a new apartment. It wasn't in the hills like Harrison's house. It wasn't fancy or huge or anything that would make people stop and stare, but it had two bedrooms. A real bedroom for Lily and a real bedroom for Marcus.
No more sleeping on the couch. It had a little yard in the back where Lily could play. It had a kitchen with actual counter space and a bathroom with a tub instead of just a shower. It was in every way that mattered a home. Daddy, look.
Lily came running in from her new bedroom, holding up a stuffed elephant. Mr. Trunk has his own shelf now. He does. Let me see. He followed her into the bedroom.
Her bedroom painted the soft purple she'd picked out herself and looked at the shelf above her bed. Mr. Trunk sat there proudly, flanked by a few books and a framed photo of Marcus and Lily at the zoo taken the day Maya had treated them. "Perfect spot," Marcus said. Maya helped me decorate. Lily bounced on her new bed, an actual bed with a frame and headboard, not the secondhand mattress she'd been sleeping on for years.
She said, "I have good taste." "You do have good taste." The doorbell rang. "That's them." Lily shot past Marcus like a bullet racing for the front door.
"Sophie, Maya, come see my room." The twins entered carrying housewarming gifts, a plant from Sophie, a ridiculously oversized teddy bear from Maya. Harrison followed with a bottle of wine and a card that Marcus would discover later contained a generous gift certificate to a furniture store. The place looks great, Sophie said, looking around. You've done amazing things with it.
It's not much. It's yours, she smiled. That's what makes it much. They had dinner that night in Marcus's new dining room, a real dining room with a table that had enough chairs for everyone. Marcus cooked nothing fancy, just spaghetti and meatballs, but it was his food in his kitchen in his home.
Lily insisted on saying Grace. "Thank you for the food," she said, her eyes squeezed shut, her small hands clasped together. "Thank you for daddy. Thank you for Sophie and Maya and Harrison. Thank you for our new house.