Chapter 8 - The ReunionTwo hours later, we arrived back at my Portland home. The police tape had been removed, but federal investigators were still inside boxing up files, computers, and financial documents.
As my car pulled into the driveway, Sophie, who had been resting inside the social worker's car, looked out the window.
Her eyes widened.
The rear door opened, and Maya stepped out onto the gravel driveway, leaning slightly on my arm for support as the autumn breeze ruffled her hair.
Sophie climbed out of the car, clutching her stuffed rabbit to her chest. She stopped dead in her tracks, staring at the woman standing twenty feet away.
Maya froze. Her breath caught in her throat. She dropped to her knees right there on the gravel driveway, opening her arms wide.
"Sophie?" Maya whispered, her voice trembling with a mixture of terror and overwhelming hope. "My... my baby?"
Sophie stared for three long seconds. Then, dropping her stuffed rabbit into the dirt, the five-year-old girl burst into tears and sprinted across the driveway, launching herself straight into her mother's arms.
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They hit the ground together, weeping, laughing, and holding onto each other as if letting go would make them vanish into thin air.
I stood a few paces back, wiping my own eyes, watching the broken pieces of our family finally snap back together into something real, authentic, and indestructible.
