To everyone who chose to bring Aliyah into your home—thank you. Stories only come fully alive when they are held in another heart, and your choice to journey with Aliyah, Prince Khamari, Sureenah, and Khalid has given this world its breath. Your time, your curiosity, and your trust are the greatest gifts an author can receive.
This book was written as a promise: that light endures, that forgiveness is a kind of courage, and that families—chosen and born—can carry hope across any distance. By purchasing this story, you’ve helped that promise reach farther than I could have ever carried it alone.
My thanks also to the booksellers, librarians, teachers, listeners, and book-club voyagers who stood up for stories and passed this one from hand to hand. May the pages you’ve turned bring you quiet strength, and may the starlight that guided Aliyah remind you that every new beginning is an act of faith.