Chapter 27
Chapter 27: Rebuilding the Walls
Two weeks later, the physical remnants of the break-in were gone. Marcus had spent the weekend installing a state-of-the-art security system, heavy deadbolts, and shatterproof glass. But the emotional repairs required a different kind of labor.
In the living room, Mia sat on the couch with her cast resting on a pillow, aggressively sketching in her notebook. Amara was on the floor, surrounded by a fortress of brightly colored building blocks.
"Is this the castle where the good guys live?" Danielle asked, kneeling next to her youngest daughter.
Amara shook her head, her curls bouncing. "No, Mommy. It’s a normal house. But it has invisible shields. Like magic."
Danielle swallowed the lump in her throat and glanced at Mia. The teenager had been unusually quiet since the incident, bottling her trauma behind a wall of teenage stoicism. Danielle moved to the couch and gently pulled the sketchbook down. It was a drawing of the four of them on the roof, but instead of the terrified expressions they had worn that night, Mia had drawn them with fierce, glowing eyes and superhero stances.
"We were pretty brave, weren't we?" Danielle whispered.
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Mia finally looked up, her eyes shining with unshed tears. "I was so scared, Mom. I thought he was going to take Amara."
"But he didn't," Danielle said, pulling her eldest daughter into a tight embrace. "Because we held the line. And we always will."
