The nurse’s warning whispered in my ear still haunted me: “Ask your son what happened at 3:00 AM.” Moments later, I eavesdropped on his panicked phone call on the fire escape: “If the police find out, we’re ruined.” My hands shook as I unlocked his briefcase in his office. The horrific adoption contract inside changed everything…
When Daniel called one Sunday evening in early October, the line crackling with a strange, nervous static, he announced that they had news. I didn’t need him to finish the sentence. A mother knows the specific, breathless cadence of that particular joy.
“Nora is pregnant?” I had asked, the phone pressed so hard against my ear it ached.
