Introducing Lilith to the community was overwhelming.
Everyone wanted to meet her—Glad's mother, returned after nearly two centuries. Lilith handled it with grace, but Glad could see her exhaustion.
"Too much?" she asked.
"A lifetime of hiding doesn't prepare you for this much attention." Lilith smiled tiredly. "But it's good. Strange, but good."
The hardest meeting was with Ariel.
"Your son?" Lilith asked, watching him interact with the community.
"Partner. Husband. Everything."
"He loves you deeply. I can see it."
"He does. I'm lucky."
"You built that luck. Chose it. Fought for it." Lilith's eyes filled with tears. "I never had that courage."
"You had different courage. The courage to stay away to keep me safe. That's not nothing."
Lilith squeezed her hand.
They sat in Anino Garden together—two mothers, one present in memory, one present in person.
"She would have loved you," Glad said, touching the statue.
"I hope so."
"I know so."
The Watcher appeared, curling between them.
Family, it observed. Expanding.
"Always expanding. That's what family does."