I did not write about Gerald, threats, or court filings.

There would be time for difficult history when he was old enough to ask.

Then I added one final sentence for the man he might someday become: Your life began in a time when I was frightened, but you were never the reason for my fear, and you never have to earn the right to be loved.

I closed the notebook and placed it beside the silver compass.

The past was not finished.

Some questions would remain unanswered and some relationships would take years to understand.

For once, that uncertainty did not feel like a trap.

It felt like the future.

THE END.