“Fighting the desire inside her and becoming friends, only friends, had been painful at first, yet she had done it for Lyric. She had repeated to herself a mantra. It’s not about me, it’s not about me. Not about what she wanted, but what Lyric needed. She had a responsibility to this little one to do more than feed and clothe her, but to show her that she wasn’t alone in the world. That she had a team, people who put her joy first. If it meant she and Stuart had to put their happiness on the shelf, so be it. Until she realized how it had set them free. Friends are not perfect and tidy and forever poised. Friends, true friends, can come to each other with their frayed edges and belly laughs.” RomanceFriendshipFriendsLaughterCrushImperfectionLaughDesires Book:The Ocean's Daughter : Source: The Ocean's Daughter :
“At last Stuart looked away from Helen and back to the piano as he picked up on Helen’s cue. In the Mood filled the small living room the way fragrance fills a garden after rain. Helen felt almost tipsy, perhaps from the music or the look Stuart had given her, or because people so rarely dance without being tipsy. Lyric bounced on Helen’s hip, the girl’s thin legs bopping against Helen’s body. Then as Helen swung and spun the child over the rug, the most remarkable thing happened. It started like a freshly sprung leak, then the moment before it came, Helen saw it in Lyric’s eyes. The leak busted, a water main of laughter bursting and arching into the room. Lyric’s laugh was the most beautiful sound Helen had ever heard. Her first thought was that Mum had been right—there is magic on this earth, and at last Helen had found it, hiding, inside this little girl. To Helen, it felt as though she'd spent so many days in the cold of winter, and was now hearing the birds return.” LoveJoyHopeMusicMagicLaughterDancingPianoChildTipsy Book:The Ocean's Daughter : Source: The Ocean's Daughter :
“The child shifted and stretched, then at last her eyelids fluttered open. She had kicked off the blanket in the night and Helen felt a small smile come as she looked at the girl, buried in the nightgown that was three times too big. “Look at you.” Helen let the smile spread a bit. “You’re like a person, but smaller.” She remembered how her brother Paul would tell her the same thing as he leaned against her head. Then Will would chime in as though to stick up for her, saying you had to hand it to short people—because they generally couldn’t reach “it” themselves. How strange, it seemed in that moment, that all their stories started here, that they’d had years of teasing and banter and laughter, then had grown and life took them to where they were now. All that laughter was gone.” HomeGriefLaughterAloneChildSiblingsRememberingBrothersSmallTeasing Book:The Ocean's Daughter : Source: The Ocean's Daughter :