In the middle of the page was a mosaic. A mosaic of beautiful broken pieces - and in them, Taylor could see so many things that Lizzie loved. And holding those pieces together? A string of gold.
"I... I just wanted you to know that I'm really grateful that you just... took me in without a second thought. I... It wasn't until I did, that I realised that broken things can be really beautiful. And you made me realise that. Broken things are really, really exquisite." 
Taylor smiled at the words being spoken to her and felt tears threaten to spill. 
"You took all of these broken pieces that I thought no one could ever love, and you taught me that they're what makes us beautiful."
It was true. Taylor had spent so long telling her that broken pieces were dazzling. 

It's the broken pieces that catch the sunlight in fleeting moments. It's the broken pieces that you wear on your sleeve, right beside your heart. It's the broken parts that teach you to heal. It's the broken parts that you learn to live with, that you learn not to hide. It's the broken parts that make you glisten in the sunset. It's the broken parts that teach you to look for the daylight and they're the parts that have lived in the dark. It's your broken parts that make you who you are, and they're lovely. Taylor had ensured that Lizzie and all of the other kids knew that they never, ever needed to hide their broken parts. Because both she and Joe had raised them in a family that had been forged by broken parts, and they'd created something so delicately woven together that it couldn't be broken. Their scars were beautiful. Bruises were loved. Cuts and scratches all added to the beauty. Joe and Taylor had taught them that someday, there'd be a person who finds their broken parts and ties them all together in a bow of daylight. Some broken pieces just fit together, and that's how the most beautiful mosaic masterpieces are made.
For Taylor, it had been Joe. For Lizzie, it had been Taylor. 

"She really showed up there? You're kidding." Joe murmured as Taylor managed to find five minutes to tell him about everything that happened. The two of them were hidden in a closet beneath the staircase, and as of that moment, they hadn't heard any children screaming or calling out Mom or Dad. 

Taylor shook her head as Joe wrapped his arms around her. 
"Lizzie was... she was perfect. I know she's talked with her therapist about what she'd say to her Mom if she ever saw her again... and everything she said was..." Taylor couldn't even fathom the right word. 
"It was one of those moments that words can't describe," Joe told her, and she nodded. 
"I'm just so proud of her. She just reminded me of me."
Joe laughed. "Bossy? Stubborn and fearless?"
Taylor burst out laughing, leaning forward to press her lips to his. "I might be a little tiny bit bossy - sometimes - but I get things done, love." She laughed because his lips tickled against hers. 
"No. You're not bossy. Lizzie has the same fire in her that you have. The fire you get from pain and trauma. It's a fire that fights back. That's the sort of fire you've had since I met you, and you've never lost it. Not even once."
"Even the time I got drunk and swam in the pool in the middle of winter and ended up getting sick for a month?" Taylor grinned, cupping his cheeks. "I'm so proud of us." She paused, getting lost in his eyes for a moment. Just like she did that very first time. At the MET Gala, wearing a sparkling dress, her hair was bleached with black lipstick on her lips. Again, at the cafe, where she felt her body turn warm for the first time in years. 
"You've never lost it." Joe shrugged as his voice brought her back to reality. "I know there have been times where you think you have, but trust me. You haven't." He kissed her cheek, and Taylor smiled. "It's always there. I would know. I'm always getting lost in your eyes."
Taylor laughed so hard she snorted, and this caused the two of them to laugh hysterically. 
"Still a charmer," Taylor whispered in between laughter. 
Joe pulled her closer to him, kissing her softly. "Hey, I'm old, but I'm not that old."
"EW, MOM AND DAD ARE MAKING OUT IN THE CLOSET!" Luca exclaimed, and Joe chuckled, before frowning. 
"Where did he learn what making out is?" Taylor laughed at Joe's concern before she leaned in and kissed him again. "Taylor. He's nine. He shouldn't know what making out is. I didn't know until I was-"
"Twenty-seven?" Taylor smirked, breaking into laughter again. He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her cheek. 
"Well, you were indeed the first person I truly wanted to make out with." He murmured against her cheek. "But no. I was actually fifteen when I found out what making out was. I can't believe he knows what that is - oh my god, what is he learning at school?" 
Taylor almost fell over because she was laughing so loud. "Joe, love." She ran her fingers through his hair and tried to be as serious as possible. She looked up at those ocean eyes she'd fallen in love with countless years ago, and smiled. One of her most genuine smiles. There were very few people in the whole world who got to see her smile like this. 
"Believe it or not, time's running away on us." She told him softly. "One day they're all going to be living their own lives, they might be married, they might have families and jobs and they might live miles and miles away, and we're... unfortunately not going to be able to stop them from making out with the people they love." Taylor smiled. "One day, we're going to be all alone in a big house and we'll know we raised good humans. Even if they know what making out is at nine years old." She stood on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to her forehead. "They're growing up."
"This conversation got really sad very quickly." Joe smiled, sighing as he cupped Taylor's cheeks.
"You're right." He paused. "You're one hundred percent right, which makes me really sad. But I'm still going to find out how he knows what making out is." Joe told her, and Taylor laughed.