You were wanted so badly that wanting you became painful.
Claire began crying.
I continued reading.
Your father wanted to keep you.
I did too.
I was afraid.
I wish I could tell you fear is a small thing.
It is not.
Sometimes fear chooses for us while we are still deciding.
I hope the people who raise you are kind.
I hope you laugh loudly.
I hope someone makes you soup when you are sick.
I hope you stand somewhere under the sun at fifty years old and feel glad you are alive.
And if you ever wonder whether there was a place you belonged before you knew your name, there was.
It was here.
With us.
Always.
Mara
No one spoke for a long time.
Finally Dad said, “She told me she destroyed everything.”
Anna wiped her eyes.
“My grandmother must have kept it.”
“Why bury it?”
“Maybe Evelyn asked her.”
