redirected twice.
Mateo did not stand, and no one pretended that mattered more than the fact that he was present, laughing, and able to squeeze Paloma’s hand with the fingers that once could not move at all.
When the officiant pronounced them husband and wife, Paloma looked at the man she had lost, found, hated, forgiven, and chosen anew.
The storm had not made them lucky.
The years had not made them untouched.
But at last, the story that began with hunger, rain, and an old lie ended in a room full of truth.
And that, Paloma thought as Brandon grinned and Elena cheered and Mateo lifted her hand to his lips, was more than survival.
It was home.
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