Just as the Denovan couple stepped quietly out of the sitting room, Maya knelt beside the sofa, her breath caught somewhere between hope and disbelief. 

She stood before Maya, her small hands clenched into fists, eyes wide with emotion, as if the weight of everything she had learned had landed all at once in her tiny chest.

Anika curled up beside Maya, but as the emotions swelled, she turned and threw her arms around her. She pressed her face into Maya’s shoulder, holding on tightly. Her small frame trembled, and Maya could feel the rapid rhythm of her heartbeat through the quiet stillness between them.

Tears spilled freely down Maya’s...