June stood and hugged me. The entire room rose to its feet. I don’t remember walking out.

—

Three weeks later, I was back above the hardware store, hanging two frames on the wall beside the window. The gas receipt note went on the left. The adoption papers went on the right. I stood there for a long time, staring at both.

For twenty years, I had called it a sacrifice.

But standing in that quiet apartment, I finally understood it wasn’t. It was the life I had chosen. And somewhere along the way, it had chosen me back.

I sat on the couch, picked up my phone, and scrolled to a number I hadn’t called in 12 years.

Diana.

I pressed call before I could convince myself not to.

She answered on the second ring.