Wandering Home

Ivy I've spent most of my life being the strong one. The dependable one. The one who works harder, carries more, and never asks for help. Everything I do is for my daughter and the life I'm determined to build for us. It may not be perfect, but it's safe. Stable. Ours. Then River moves home. He looks at me like I'm more than the woman holding everything together. Like maybe I deserve someone who stays. And for the first time in years, I wonder if letting someone stay might not break me after all. River Baseball was my whole life. But when the career ends and the future I thought I had disappeared with it, I find myself back home trying to figure out who I am without the game-and what I still want. A family. A place to belong. Something real. Then I met Ivy and Vivian. They're messy and stubborn and stronger than anyone should have to be-and somewhere between bedtime stories, T-ball practices, and quiet moments that feel too easy, I realize something I never expected. I don't just want a future anymore. I want theirs.