Page 85 of Loving Lauren

“How do you feel?” Sierra reached over to take their hand.

“Exhausted, but good. Really good.” Lauren squeezed her fingers. “Like maybe all the pain actually meant something, you know? Like it wasn’t just something that happened to me. It prepared me to help others.”

Sierra lifted their joined hands and kissed Lauren’s knuckles. “I’m so proud of you. You may have saved lives tonight.”

“We saved lives. You showed me that healing could be shared, that our stories could be medicine. I couldn’t have done this without what you taught me about creating safe spaces.”

As they drove home through the city lights, both of them were quiet, processing the weight and beauty of what had just happened. Their healing had become something larger, a gift they could offer to others still finding their way home to themselves.

Lauren placed their hand on Sierra’s belly, where they felt the smallest flutter. “You know what gets me the most?”

“What?” Sierra whispered.

“I spent so many years believing I was fundamentally unlovable. That the parts of me I couldn’t change were the parts that would drive everyone away.” Their voice was soft, wondering. “And here you are, loving all of me so completely that we created this.” They pressed gently against Sierra’s stomach. “This little person is going to grow up knowing they’re wanted, safe, and loved without conditions.”

Sierra felt tears slip down her cheeks as Lauren continued.

“Sometimes I think about that sixteen-year-old kid, sitting on those steps with nowhere to go, convinced their story was over before it started.” Lauren looked out at the city lights blurring past. “I wish I could go back and tell them: you’re going to find home. Not just a place to live, but people who will choose you every single day. You’re going to build something so beautiful from all these broken pieces that you won’t even recognize who you used to be.”

They turned back to Sierra, eyes bright with unshed tears. “And you’re going to help other kids find their way home, too.”

Sierra brought Lauren’s hand to her lips, kissing their knuckles softly. In the quiet of the car, with the city moving around them and their future growing beneath Sierra’s heart, they both understood that some stories don’t end. They just keepunfolding, like photographs that reveal new details the longer you look—imperfect and beautiful in every frame.