Chapter 5 - The Impossible Favor
Lily didn't lower the wooden plank, but her brow furrowed in confusion. "You... you aren't mad?"
"Mad?" Ethan shook his head, rain dripping from his hair down his face. "I am alive because of you, Lily. You were brave. You called the doctor. You kept me warm. You are my little heroes."
Emma peeked out from behind Lily's back, her teeth chattering so hard she could barely speak. "You... you remember our names?"
"I remember," Ethan smiled, a real, genuine smile that reached his eyes for the first time in four agonizing years. "The doctor fixed my heart, just like you asked them to. But now I need to help you. It's very cold out here. Will you come with me? I have a warm car, warm clothes, and all the food you could ever want."
Lily looked at the big, terrifying man in the mud. She looked at his soft, blue eyes, which didn't look like the angry faces of the people who had chased them all day. They looked like her mother's eyes when she was worried about them.
Slowly, Lily lowered the wooden plank. "Are you going to send us to the orphanage?"
"No," Ethan promised solemnly. "I swear on my life, no one will ever separate you two again."
Lily looked at Emma, who gave a tiny, desperate nod. The cold had seeped deep into their bones; they couldn't survive another night in the rain. Lily stepped out of the dark boxcar, her tiny hands clutching her sister's.
Ethan reached out and gently scooped both of them up into his arms, ignoring the sudden pull on his surgical incisions. He wrapped his large wool coat completely around their small, shivering bodies, pulling them close against his chest. They felt impossibly light, like delicate feathers that a strong gust of wind could blow away forever.
As Ethan carried them toward the warm, idling SUV, Emma pressed her small, frozen cheek against Ethan’s neck.
"Mister?" Emma whispered softly into his ear.
"Yes, Emma?"
"Can... can you do us an impossible favor?"
Ethan stopped in his tracks, looking down at the small child in his arms. "Anything, Emma. Ask me anything in this world."
Emma looked up at him with massive, earnest brown eyes full of a child's pure, desperate hope. "Can you take us to heaven to see our Mommy? Just for five minutes? We forgot to tell her goodnight on the day she went away, and we miss her so much."
The sheer weight of her request hit Ethan like a physical blow. A lump formed in his throat, so large he could hardly breathe. He remembered sitting by his wife Caroline’s bedside four years ago, wishing for the exact same impossible thing—just five more minutes to say goodbye.
Ethan held them tighter, his tears mixing with the rain on his cheeks.
"I can't take you to heaven, sweetheart," Ethan whispered, his voice thick with raw emotion. "No one has a key to that door. But... I can build a home for you right here on Earth. A home where we can remember her every single day, and where you will never, ever be hungry, cold, or afraid again. Would that be okay?"
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Lily looked deeply into Ethan's eyes, seeing the shared grief and absolute sincerity reflected there. She leaned her little head against his shoulder.
"Okay," Lily whispered softly. "We'd like that, mister."
