Chapter 18
We married in the garden.
Small.
Quiet.
No society pages.
No luxury spectacle.
Leo carried the rings in a velvet pouch and took his job so seriously he refused to smile until the ceremony ended.
Then he threw himself between us and shouted, “Family hug!”
Everyone laughed.
I looked at Elena’s parents.
Her mother nodded through tears.
That blessing mattered more than any applause.
After the ceremony, Leo asked if he could call me Mama Ria.
My heart stopped.
David crouched beside him.
“You don’t have to call her anything different.”
Leo looked at me.
“I want to.”
I knelt.
“You can call me whatever feels right.”
He touched my cheek.
“Mama Ria.”
I pulled him close.
I did not replace Elena.
Love is not a chair only one person can sit in.
May you like
I became another safe place.
And Leo, who had once hidden behind my skirt shaking, danced barefoot under the lights until he fell asleep on David’s shoulder.
