Chapter 9 - The Wall of Memory
Six months later.
Spring had returned to the neighborhood. The apple trees in our front yard were heavy with white and pink blossoms, scattering soft petals over the green lawn.
Inside the house, the smell of sizzling seasoned beef, warm corn tortillas, and fresh cilantro filled the kitchen.
In the dining room, Drew was standing on a step stool, holding a heavy wooden picture frame against the main wall beside the refrigerator.
I stood back near the archway, holding six-month-old Maya on my hip. Maya was giggling loudly, reaching her tiny hands out toward the bright colors of the newly framed photographs.
"A little to the left, Drew," I instructed with a smile.
"Left? Or your left?" Drew asked, tilting the frame slightly.
"Right there," Eli called out from the dining table, where he was busy assembling a massive plate of hard-shell tacos. "That's straight!"
Drew drove a small brass nail into the wall and hung the frame securely.
It was a magnificent collage of twelve large photographs, documenting the story of our family over the past year.
There was a photo of Eli helping paint the nursery trim. A photo of Drew and Eli building a birdhouse in the backyard. A photo of the taped calendar page with MAYA'S BIRTHDAY / BIG BROTHER DAY written on it. A photo of baby Maya holding onto Eli's index finger in the hospital room. And a recent photo taken at the park, showing Eli sitting on a blanket with Maya in his lap, both of them wearing matching red baseball caps.
In the very center of the collage sat a brand-new document in an ornate silver border—an official, court-stamped family certificate that Eli had requested himself during our last legal check-in, declaring our household an unbroken legal unit.
Eli walked over, standing beside me and looking up at the wall.
"Looks good, right?" Eli asked, looking up at me with bright, proud eyes.
"It looks perfect, Eli," I said softly, resting my hand on his shoulder.
Maya let out a happy babble, reaching out her tiny hand and grabbing hold of Eli's earlobe, pulling gently.
May you like
"Ouch! Hey!" Eli laughed, gently untangling her tiny fingers. "You're getting strong, squirt."
"She gets it from her big brother," Drew said, stepping down from the stool and wrapping his arms around my waist from behind, resting his chin on my shoulder as we all looked at the wall together.
