CHAPTER 189
SKYLAR'S POV
The United Nations invitation arrived on a Tuesday morning, delivered by diplomatic courier while I was reviewing Addison's latest metalworking project from Harry's workshop. The formal request for me to address the General Assembly came with security protocols, travel arrangements, and the weight of fifteen years of legitimate anti-trafficking work culminating in this single opportunity.
"What's that, Mama?" twelve-year-old Addison asked, looking up from the small knife she'd been perfecting under Harry's guidance.
"An invitation to speak to world leaders about the work our foundation does," I said, scanning the official documents while calculating the implications.
"That sounds important."
"It is important. The question is whether it's the right kind of important for our family."
Through the kitchen window, I could see Harry in the garden with seven-year-old Liam, ostensibly teaching him about plant identification but actually conducting wilderness survival training. Four-year-old Elena played nearby, her attention focused on a puzzle that was probably too advanced for her age but which she was solving with characteristic determination.
"Will you have to travel far away?" Addison asked, her question carrying the understated concern that had characterized all our children since they'd learned that Mama and the uncles sometimes faced danger in their work.
"New York. Just for a few days."
"Will the uncles go with you?"
"Probably. This kind of speaking engagement requires proper security planning."
What I didn't say was that accepting this invitation would make our family the most visible anti-trafficking advocates in the world, which could either advance our mission significantly or paint permanent targets on all our backs.
Jax appeared in the kitchen doorway, having obviously been monitoring the conversation. "Official UN invitation?"
"Complete with diplomatic protocols and security briefings. They want me to address the General Assembly about global trafficking trends and prevention strategies."
"When?"
"Three weeks from today."
Lucas emerged from his office, tablet in hand and wearing the expression that meant he'd been conducting background research. "I've been monitoring chatter about increased trafficking activity leading up to several high-profile political events. Someone's been escalating operations."
"Escalating how?"
"More victims, more sophisticated routes, higher-profile targets. It's like someone's trying to demonstrate that anti-trafficking efforts aren't working."
Harry came in from the garden, Liam trailing behind him with a collection of plants they'd been identifying. "What's the discussion?"
"UN wants Skylar to give a major address about our work. Could be the biggest platform we've ever had."
"Could also be the biggest risk we've ever faced," I added, watching our children absorb the conversation with the analytical attention they brought to everything involving family business.
"Uncle Lucas," Liam said, settling into his chair with the precise movements Harry had been teaching him, "if Mama talks to important people about saving children, won't that make more people want to help?"
"It should, yes."
"But it might also make bad people angry at us?"
"That's possible too."
Elena looked up from her puzzle, her four-year-old face serious. "Are we in trouble?"
"We're not in trouble, sweetheart," I said, lifting her onto my lap. "But sometimes when you do important work, you have to make difficult decisions about how much attention you want."
"What kind of attention?"
"The kind where lots of people know who you are and what you do."
"Is that bad?"
"It's not bad, but it's complicated. When lots of people know about your work, it can help you save more children. But it can also make some dangerous people notice you."
Addison had been listening with the focused intensity she applied to everything important. "What do you want to do, Mama?"
"I want to accept the invitation because it's the chance to influence policy at the highest levels of international government."
"But?"
"But I also want to keep our family safe and private."
"Can you do both?"
It was exactly the question I'd been wrestling with since opening the diplomatic envelope.
"I don't know. That's what we need to figure out as a family."
Harry moved to start coffee, beginning the ritual that had anchored every major family decision for over a decade. "What does your gut tell you?"
"My gut tells me this is the culmination of everything we've worked toward. The chance to reach decision-makers who have the power to implement real change."
"And what does your heart tell you?" Jax asked.
"My heart tells me that some opportunities are worth the risk, even when the risk is significant."
Lucas pulled up news reports on his tablet, showing recent trafficking statistics that painted a grim picture of escalating crimes. "The problem is getting worse, not better. Despite all our success, global trafficking incidents have increased by thirty percent in the past two years."
"Which means incremental approaches aren't sufficient," I said. "We need to reach the people who can authorize systematic change."
"Or it means that some problems are too big for any individual organization to solve," Harry countered.
Elena had fallen asleep in my lap, her small body warm and trusting despite the serious nature of our discussion. Looking at her peaceful face, I felt the familiar tension between duty to strangers and responsibility to family.
"There's something else to consider," Jax said. "If you accept this invitation and address the UN, it changes our family's profile permanently. We can't go back to being relatively anonymous after that kind of exposure."
"Are we ready for that level of visibility?" Lucas asked.
"Are we ready to keep working in limited ways while trafficking networks expand globally?" I countered.
Addison looked around the table at the adults who'd shaped her understanding of moral responsibility. "What would happen to children who need help if Mama doesn't take this opportunity?"
"Other people would continue the work," Harry said. "The foundation would keep operating, other organizations would keep fighting."
"But not as effectively as if Mama could convince world leaders to do more?"
"Probably not as effectively, no."
"Then I think she should do it," Addison said with twelve-year-old certainty. "Even if it's scary for us."
"Even if it puts our family at risk?" I asked.
"Especially if it puts our family at risk. Because that means it's important enough that people want to stop it."
Looking around the table at the faces of the people I loved most in the world, I realized that this decision would define not just our immediate future, but our children's understanding of what it meant to be part of our family.
"We accept the invitation," I said. "But we do it with full security protocols and complete family preparation for what comes after."
As we began planning for what could either be our greatest triumph or our most dangerous exposure, I couldn't shake the feeling that this moment would change everything about how we lived.
But maybe that was exactly what the world needed - people willing to change everything for the sake of protecting innocent children.
Even when those people had children of their own to protect.
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