Mrs. Reynolds noticed him still standing there and motioned gently for him to come in. Ethan hesitated but opened the door.

“Everything okay?” she asked softly.

“Yeah,” he said, his voice low. “She’s just… been through a lot. We both have.”

Mrs. Reynolds nodded. “I can tell. She’s got your strength.”

He looked at Lily, now laughing quietly with her new classmates, and something inside him finally began to loosen. “She’s got her mom’s heart,” he whispered.

The teacher smiled warmly. “Then she’s going to be just fine.”

When it was time to leave, Ethan crouched beside Lily’s desk.

“I’m heading out now, okay?”

Her small hands clutched his sleeve for a second — then let go. “Okay, Daddy. You can go to work now.”