Chapter 11 - The Christening
Six months later, we hosted a private christening for Luna at the estate.
It was a small gathering—just close friends, trusted colleagues, and Marcus, who had become a fiercely protective honorary uncle.
The lawn was decorated with white roses and soft fairy lights, overlooking the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean.
Luna was wearing a delicate white lace gown that had belonged to my mother.
The collar dipped just low enough to show the pale crescent moon mark on her shoulder.
"She is absolutely perfect," my best friend, Sarah, said, cooing at Luna as she held her.
"She has her father's glare," I joked, watching Luna furiously judge a floating balloon.
Eric walked up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist and resting his chin on my shoulder.
"I heard that," he murmured, kissing my cheek.
"It's true," I laughed. "She negotiates her feeding times like a hostile takeover."
"She knows what she wants," Eric smiled proudly.
Detective Miller even made an appearance, dressed in a sharp suit instead of his usual rumpled trench coat.
"I brought a gift," Miller said, handing Eric a small, wrapped box.
"You didn't have to do that, Detective," I said.
"I wanted to," Miller smiled. "I've worked a lot of cases in my career. Most of them don't end with a party. I needed to see a happy ending."
Eric opened the box.
Inside was a small, silver compass.
"So she always knows her way home," Miller explained.
"Thank you, Detective," Eric said sincerely, shaking the man's hand.
As the sun began to set, painting the sky in brilliant strokes of orange and purple, I stood at the edge of the patio, holding my daughter.
I thought about the night I had walked into my bedroom, exhausted, broken, and ready to give up on my marriage.
I thought about the terrifying moment I saw the baby on my pillow, and the horrifying secrets that had unraveled in the days that followed.
May you like
Someone had tried to use this child as a weapon to destroy our lives.
Instead, she became the glue that put us back together.
