Julian had visited daily, offering to collect my mail and handle anything that might disturb my recovery.
The memory struck like cold water, because I could almost see him standing beside my bed with a stack of unopened envelopes.
Mara said she had believed my refusal for years, despite sensing that the words sounded colder than anything she remembered about me.
I asked whether Sadie would ever consider meeting me, and Mara said the decision belonged to her daughter alone.
She warned me that Sadie had learned to recognize grand promises followed by disappearing adults, and she needed patience instead of speeches.
I agreed, although I wanted desperately to explain every missing birthday and every silence that had never been mine.
Chloe asked Mara whether Julian knew about the photograph in our room, and Mara admitted she had sent him another copy.
She had hoped the picture would make him remember a child who had spent months looking forward to meeting her new sister.
