Chapter 12 - The Unbroken Circle-12
As evening began to settle over the farm, the yellow buses transported the shelter children back to town, leaving behind a peaceful, quiet twilight filled with the soft chirping of crickets.
A small campfire crackled softly in the stone pit near the barn.
Rowan, Delaney, Micah, and Elsie sat on wooden benches around the warm fire, roasting marshmallows on long wooden sticks.
"Dad?" Micah spoke up, watching the yellow flames dance against the dark logs.
"Yeah, buddy?" Rowan replied, adjusting the blanket around Elsie’s shoulders.
"Do you remember when I called you from the old phone?" Micah asked quietly.
Delaney paused, setting her marshmallow stick down, looking at her son with immense warmth.
"I'll remember that call for the rest of my life, Micah," Rowan said, stepping over to sit beside him on the bench.
"I was really scared," Micah admitted, looking up at his father. "I thought the phone wasn't going to work because the lights were out. But then I heard your voice, and I knew everything was going to be okay."
Rowan pulled his son close, wrapping his arm tightly around his small shoulders.
"You were brave, Micah," Rowan said softly. "Braver than most grown-ups could ever be. You listened to your heart, you looked after your sister, and you saved our family."
Elsie crawled over onto Rowan’s lap, holding up a golden, perfectly toasted marshmallow. "I made this one for you, Daddy!"
Rowan took the marshmallow with a dramatic smile. "This is the single greatest marshmallow in the history of Tennessee."
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Elsie giggled, burying her face in his chest, content and warm.
Delaney reached across the fire pit, holding out her hand. Rowan took it, their fingers intertwining securely over the warm embers of the fire.
