Chapter 19 - THE FIRST CHRISTMAS
Christmas arrived quietly.
Snow covered Chicago in white, softening the city outside the estate gates.
Sophia prepared dinner with the staff.
Emma decorated the tree.
Matteo watched from the doorway.
She had insisted on placing one crooked paper star at the very top.
“You can't reach,” he said.
“I can.”
“You're three.”
“I can.”
Matteo lifted her carefully.
She placed the star.
“There.”
Everyone applauded.
Sophia smiled.
Matteo looked around the room.
Months earlier, this house had been filled with fear.
Now it smelled like cinnamon, roasted vegetables, and fresh bread.
Emma ran back toward him.
“I made you something!”
She handed him a small cloth pouch.
Inside was the torn shirt from that first afternoon.
It had been repaired properly.
Sophia had helped her sew it.
Matteo touched the stitches.
“They're perfect.”
Emma grinned.
“Mama taught me.”
He kissed the top of her head.
That ruined shirt had once represented everything broken inside his home.
May you like
Now it represented the opposite.
A beginning.
