Chapter Five: "Pictures and Appearances"
The annual family gathering had arrived, and with it came noise, laughter, and expectations.
Andra's entire family was coming together for a small celebration to honor her father's birthday. It was tradition—everyone dressed up, brought a dish, and pretended for a day that everything in life was steady and sweet.
Andra didn't want to go.
She felt like a cracked vase being asked to sit among fine china. But she couldn't skip it—not when her dad had called her personally and said, "It would mean a lot if you came. Bring Kingsley too. Everyone misses you."
So she dressed up.
A simple navy dress, a swipe of lip gloss, and Kingsley in his cutest khaki shorts. She carried him on her hip into the backyard, where folding chairs circled a smoky grill and her sisters sipped juice from paper cups. Her nieces and nephews were chasing balloons across the grass.
She looked around.
Family.
Support.
All these people who had carried her when she couldn't carry herself.
When it was her turn to speak, she stood beside her father and raised a glass of mango juice.
"Thank you for being the kind of dad who loves quietly but deeply," she said, voice steady. "Kingsley is lucky to have a grandfather like you."
Everyone clapped.
Later, her sister pulled her aside. "You look amazing, Andra. I'm so proud of you."
"I don't feel amazing," she admitted.
"You're doing the hardest thing," her sister whispered. "You're raising a child, finishing school, and doing it with grace."
Andra blinked back tears.
Grace.
That's what she was chasing now. Not perfection. Not even success.
Just grace.
Parker didn't show up to the party. He claimed he had a last-minute shoot. Janine didn't show either. Andra was relieved. She didn't want to explain anything to anyone. Not today.
That night, she posted a photo of Kingsley playing with his cousins and captioned it: "Grateful. Growing. Grinding."
Parker liked the photo. He commented a heart emoji.
Andra didn't reply.
Instead, she stared at the screen for a long moment, then turned it off.
Kingsley stirred in his sleep beside her, one tiny hand reaching for her shirt.
She leaned down, kissed his forehead, and whispered, "We're gonna be okay."
And maybe for the first time, she believed it.