We weren’t related by blood, but she was the closest thing to family I ever knew. We shared everything—cookies sneaked from the kitchen, quiet conversations after lights-out, and dreams about who we’d become once we were finally free of that place.
We endured it together.
The day we turned eighteen, standing outside with nothing but worn duffel bags at our feet, Nora looked at me with tears shining in her eyes.
“No matter what happens, Ollie,” she said, squeezing my hand, “we’ll always be family. Promise me.”
“I promise,” I replied—and I meant it with my whole heart.
And we kept that promise. Even when life pulled us into different cities, when weeks passed too quickly and calls became shorter, we never truly drifted apart.
Nora worked as a waitress. I bounced between jobs until I landed steady work at a used bookstore. We stayed connected in the way only people who’ve survived something together can.
When she found out she was pregnant, she called me crying—happy tears.
“Ollie, I’m having a baby,” she said. “You’re going to be an uncle.”
