My eyes burned.
“I thought I had made a decision I could live with. I was wrong.”
“That doesn’t answer the question,” Chloe said.
“No,” I admitted. “It doesn’t.”
Marianne stepped closer to her daughters.
“You don’t have to talk to him today.”
“I know,” Sophie replied.
She continued looking at me.
“Did you know Mom was pregnant?”
I swallowed.
“Yes.”
“Then you knew there might be a baby.”
“Yes.”
“And you left anyway.”
There was nowhere to hide.
“Yes.”
Chloe’s face remained composed, but I saw her fingers tighten around her medal.
“That’s all we wanted to know.”
They turned away.
I watched them walk with Marianne toward the reception area.
I had imagined this moment differently.
In my fantasies, if I ever met a child I had lost, I would be welcomed with tears and forgiveness.
I would explain myself.
I would promise to make everything right.
But these girls owed me nothing.
