Chapter 27 - Mark made Captain.
His new firehouse was in a quiet neighborhood, mostly handling medical calls and minor incidents.
They had a badge-pinning ceremony on a Friday afternoon.
"You don't have to come," he told me the night before. "I know firehouses are... a lot."
"I'll be there," I said.
And I was.
I walked into the station holding Clara's hand. I smelled the diesel, the rubber, the polish. It was the exact smell of Alex's world.
My heart fluttered, but I didn't run.
I watched the Chief pin the captain's bars on Mark's collar. I saw the pride in his face. He looked out into the crowd of families and found my eyes.
He didn't look away.
After the ceremony, he picked Clara up and let her wear his new helmet. It slid down over her eyes, making her giggle wildly.
I stood in the center of the apparatus floor.
I realized then that I wasn't afraid of the uniform anymore.
May you like
The uniform hadn't broken my heart. A flawed man had.
And a good man happened to wear the same one.
