Chapter 8 - The New Foundation
Six months later.
The Chicago autumn had arrived, turning the oak trees along Astor Street into a vibrant canopy of gold, orange, and deep red.
Inside the grand dining room of the Astor Street townhouse, a warm fire crackled in the hearth.
The long mahogany table was set for a celebratory dinner. Sitting at the table were Mrs. Ortiz—who had completely recovered from her high blood pressure episode and was now wearing a lovely purple silk dress—Mrs. Gable, Arthur Vance, and several senior managers from Calder Restaurant Group.
At the head of the table sat Sebastian, looking relaxed and radiant in a casual cashmere sweater.
Beside him sat me, wearing an elegant dark green dress, my hair styled in soft waves. On my lap sat fourteen-month-old Lily, wearing a little yellow dress, happily chewing on a warm bread roll.
Sebastian stood up, raising his crystal glass of champagne.
"Thank you, everyone, for coming tonight," Sebastian began, his voice warm and commanding. "We are here to celebrate three very important milestones."
He looked down at me, his gray eyes filled with a deep, obvious love that no longer needed to be hidden from the world.
"First," Sebastian announced, "to Maya, who passed her first semester of culinary business management at DePaul University with a perfect 4.0 GPA."
The table erupted into applause. Mrs. Ortiz clapped enthusiastically, wiping a tear from her eye.
"Second," Sebastian continued, smiling at Arthur Vance, "to the final settlement of the Sterling corporate dissolution. As of three o'clock today, the Sterling shipping docks have been fully acquired by Calder Logistics, and Julian Sterling has begun serving his four-year sentence at the Sheridan Correctional Center."
More applause echoed through the room.
"And finally," Sebastian’s voice softened, dropping into an intimate register as he looked down at Lily, who was reaching her tiny arms up toward his glass. "To the newest board member of the Calder Children's Foundation—Lily Delgado."
He set his glass down, picked up a small leather-bound folder from the table, and handed it to me.
I opened the folder. Inside was a legal deed for a newly renovated, state-of-the-art community childcare center in the northwest side of Chicago—the very neighborhood where I used to live above the laundromat.
The gold plaque on the front of the deed read: THE LILY DELGADO COMMUNITY CHILDCARE CENTER – PROVIDING FREE, SECURE DAYCARE FOR WORKING MOTHERS.
May you like
I looked up at Sebastian, my heart overflowing. "Sebastian... you built a daycare center in my old neighborhood?"
"No mother should ever have to hide her baby in a linen room because she has to choose between her job and her child’s safety, Maya," Sebastian said softly, kneeling down beside my chair and taking my hand. "We built it together."
