Elise walked into the kitchen fifteen minutes later, car keys in one hand, travel mug in the other, running on exactly four hours of sleep and the fumes of determination. She stopped dead in the doorway. Lucy sat on a stool at the counter, kicking her feet and humming like a witness under protective custody….
Micah stepped into the kitchen with the bone-deep satisfaction of a man who had just done something objectively productive and mildly heroic: he had loaded the dishwasher. Correctly. Efficiently. Logically. He opened the fridge for a bottle of water. When he closed the door, Daniel was standing at the dishwasher with the door open and…
Micah didn’t want a birthday celebration. Didn’t ask for one. Didn’t mention the date. He figured if he didn’t say anything, the day would stay quiet, and he could treat it like any other slow evening. No such luck. Elise had gone full older-sister celebration mode. He came home from work to the smell of…
Bennett doesn’t even open the door at first. He stands there on the passenger side, one hand hovering over the handle like he knows how momentous this is. Micah pretends he’s not watching, but of course he is. It’s his beat-up old SUV, the one he bought when he was just a kid, and Bennett…
Some stories don’t need exposition. They just need the right music. When I built Micah Rowe’s playlist and Jack Brenner’s playlist side by side, I realized I wasn’t just picking songs. I was mapping the fault line at the center of the Tidewoven universe. Micah’s playlist, The Weight He Never Let Go, is the sound…
Micah sits at the kitchen table like the phone just insulted him. Elise left it there for him on purpose because she’s sick of watching him suffer in silence every time the girls hand him their latest Pinterest craft masterpiece with big, hopeful eyes. He stares at the screen. Pinterest stares back. Endless pastel squares….
Thanksgiving With the Reyes Family Elise called Micah two days before the holiday to invite him to come to her house for Thanksgiving. “Mom and Pop Reyes will be there,” she said, like that settled everything. He muttered something about work. She had expected this reaction and played her trump card. “The girls are asking…
Updated 12/2/25 A Spark That Turned Into Something Bigger I thought I was starting a small creative project. A few scenes. A little worldbuilding. Something gentle to ease into this new season of my life. Then the story opened up. What began as a single idea grew into a full world, and then into a…