Chapter 10 - A New Foundation
One year later.
The Thanksgiving table at 4820 Highlands Ridge Road looked entirely different.
The antique Italian chandelier still hung from the ceiling, but the gold-rimmed porcelain plates were gone, replaced by simple, sturdy stoneware. There were no crystal water goblets, no heirloom lace tablecloths, and no artificial pretensions.
Instead, the house was filled with warmth, the rich smell of roasted turkey, and genuine laughter.
Trident Holdings LLC had been dissolved six months prior. I had officially transferred the property deed back to Arthur—not as a handout, but as a clean, legal transaction backed by a structured repayment plan that my father was actually working three days a week to service alongside a modest consulting gig.
Marjorie stood by the kitchen counter, wearing a simple cotton apron flour-dusted across her front, actually basting the turkey herself instead of barking orders at domestic staff. When she looked at me—sitting at the table in my crisp Navy dress uniform, my newly pinned Chief Petty Officer anchors gleaming on my collar—there was no sneer in her eyes. There was only quiet, humbled gratitude.
Serena sat across from me, wearing a simple wool sweater, chopping celery with a knife instead of a legal brief. She looked tired, but for the first time in her life, she looked real.
"Pass the gravy, Chief," Serena smiled, using my rank with a teasing, affectionate warmth that had been missing our entire lives.
I picked up the boat and handed it to her, my hands strong, steady, and scarred from years of honest work.
"Here you go, counselor," I replied.
My father lifted his glass—not of expensive Pinot Noir, but of simple sparkling cider—and looked around the table, his eyes resting on each of us with genuine, unvarnished love.
"To family," Arthur said quietly, raising his glass. "The real kind."
May you like
"To family," we all echoed together.
Outside, the Seattle rain fell softly against the leaded glass windows, but inside, for the first time in thirty-two years, the house finally felt like home.
