It’s a cold February morning, the kind when you’re so toasty in bed cuddled up next to your husband that you could stay there all day long. The house is quiet, the snow is falling, and Ethan’s skin is imprinted with our mixed scents. Maybe I can sleep the day away. But then I remember that we’re parents. Not just any parents, but the parents of a little girl who’s turning two today.

“Mama!” Silly Belle calls from the magical forest of Neverland.

“You get her.”

“I got her last time,” he mumbles. “Plus, she’s calling for you.” Ethan’s smartass smile is enough to make me pinch his side. “Ow, what was that for?”

“Come on, we have a party to get ready anyway.”

“Didn’t we hire people to do that?”

“No, we rented a cupcake shop for several hours so we can hold our party but we do the rest ourselves. We’re involved in our daughter’s life. We actively participate, remember?” It’s not meant to be a dig at his mother’s past negligence; it’s just fact. This is how we’ve chosen to parent—completely and whole-heartedly. I swipe the comforter off his smoking hot body. “Let’s go, Captain Hook.”

We tiptoe into our fairy princess’s neck of the woods and both sing at the same time, “Happy Birthday, Lilly Belle!” Ethan swoops in on our bouncy curly-haired blonde and picks her up in the air. Her feet kick like she’s swimming in the air, sprinkling pixie dust everywhere.

“Guess who’s having a party today?” I tickle her and take her from Ethan’s arms.

“Par-dee?”

“Yes, you, my little goddess. In just a couple hours. Let’s get you dressed!”

* * *

Gardenia’s in midtown bustles with smiles, sparkling lights, and joyous conversation. The cupcake bakery’s courtyard garden is a magical place to hold a party, like an enchanted fairyland for toddlers. All of Lilly Belle’s friends from the park are there, a few of her friends from swimming lessons, all my family, and even friends of Ethan’s from work.

Wilson is there with his wife and older daughter, and watching Wilson swirl icing on a cupcake then sprinkle edible glitter all over it is priceless. “Hey, you’re pretty good at that,” I tell him, handing him a mimosa in a champagne glass. “I should’ve hired you to make them all.”

“Bite your tongue, Mrs. Townsend. This here cat’s retired.” He laughs, turning to his wife and giving her a peck on the cheek.

“You’ve done a beautiful job with this party, Penelope,” his wife tells me, giving me that look some people do when they want to express just how special they think I am for taking both Ethan and Lilly Belle into my life. What they don’t understand is that my husband and daughter enrich my life just as much.

Going to school part-time to study business never would’ve been possible without those two. They made me want to do better, aim higher, push for more than just a small start-up company. Being Lilly Belle’s mom means transcending regular life and going beyond.

It does take a special person to care for a child who wasn’t born to you, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t teach me things every day. I’m a harder working, happier person now than I was before, and having Ethan help watch her while I work to make my dreams come true is a blessing.

My mom takes the train into the city about once or twice a week to help out when Ethan has to work or I’m at school. She adores her time alone with Lilly Belle. It gives her an excuse to get away from home while my siblings are in school, a mini adventure a few times a week.

In the meantime, Ethan is going to therapy. Most of the time, he goes alone, but every once in a while, I’ll go with him and help him put feelings he’s having a hard time with into words.

He’s a changed man. I would say, liberated.

When I met him, he thought he’d moved on from the pain, but in truth, he’d only hidden his demons. It’s dangerous, sweeping demons under the proverbial rug. They’ll only come out one day and bite you in the ass. It’s way better to deal with them the right way, slaying them with any weapon necessary until they eventually begin to fade into harmless ghosts. Now, he is caring, so loving, and he never yells at us for being in his space. He’s all too happy to share his space, because it means he’s not alone anymore.

He’ll never be alone again.

“Alright, everybody, gather round!” I call to our guests to come around the cupcake tower filled with pink and green sparkly sugary confections. “It’s time to wish Lilly Belle a magical second birthday!”

Ethan sweeps her up and carries her to the table, while I light the top cupcake with the fondant number 2 on top, and our friends and family gather round. A beautiful sight, seeing all these smiling faces, people we adore, toasting to the birthday girl under a glass atrium of warmth, as the NYC cold hovers outside.

“Ready?” I hold her hand and stare at her luminous blue eyes, as they soak in the entire scene, the marvel of so many people giving her attention at once. “One…two…three…”

As we sing Happy Birthday, I think about how quickly life has changed for me—for us—in such a short time.

It’s enough to make me realize that dreams do in fact come true. And that even when things look bleak, you can still have hope.

Yes, I decide, hope is exactly the word. Our future is bright, especially with the icing on this cupcake. While everyone is clapping, I pick up the little gift box at the end of the table and hand it to Lilly Belle. “Open this present first, Silly Belle.”

“Yay!” she cries, her favorite phrase for anything happy these days. Everyone laughs, as she rips the present open. Throwing pink tissue paper in the air, she picks up a little T-shirt. I help her hold it up, while Ethan narrows his eyes to read the printed message on it. My stomach is in knots, as he reads the words aloud.

“World’s Best Big Sister,” he says. It takes him a moment to process, but the minute everyone starts cheering and hollering their congratulations, he turns to me, Lilly Belle locked between us. “Are you serious?” he whispers.

“Heck yes, I’m serious. That would be a super weird joke,” I whisper back in reply. “So get ready for baby number two. Congratulations, Daddy.” Noting the blend of shock and pure joy in his eyes, I hug my husband using all the positive energy my heart can muster forth.

“You hear that, Silly Belle?” Ethan’s glossy eyes turn to his tiny girl. “You’re going to be a big sister. Mommy has a baby inside her.” He rubs my tiny baby bump that’s not even showing yet at ten weeks.

“Baby?” she questions. When we both nod and drop her a notch to kiss my belly, she raises her fist in the air and cries, “Baby, yay!”

I laugh so hard, I’m crying. Or maybe I’m crying because I’ve never been filled with so much happiness all at once. My mother and father are crying, my little sisters are crying…hell, I think even Wilson’s crying. “Yay!” I echo her enthusiasm and kiss my husband before turning and taking a family photo.

Yes, it’s all real, I think, still in shock sometimes myself.

Life is strange, and miracles do, in fact, happen.