Selena hummed softly as she applied the final touches to her makeup, her mind still lingering on the afternoon she'd spent with Miguel. The memory of his laughter warmed her from within as she reached for her lipstick.
"Mama, look!" he had shouted earlier that day, proudly holding up a drawing of what appeared to be two stick figures—one tall, one small—standing before a house with an impossibly large sun beaming down on them.
"It's beautiful, mi vida," she had whispered, fighting back tears as she gathered him into her arms. Four years old and already so talented, so perfect. "Is this us?"
"Yes!" Miguel had nodded enthusiastically, his dark curls bouncing. "And that's our house. The one you said we'll have someday."
The promise she'd made him—a real home, just the two of them, far awa
