“I don’t know how to do this without her,” he had whispered.
I had put my hand on his shoulder.
“You don’t have to know tonight.”
Apparently, thirteen days had been enough for him to decide.
My hands were already shaking when I opened the envelope.
There was only one sheet of paper.
Mason,
I’m sorry.
I can’t raise them by myself.
Melissa was the one who knew what she was doing. I don’t.
You’re better than me.
Please make sure they’re okay.
Eric.
That was all.
No phone number.
No explanation.
No promise that he was coming back.
I read it again.
Then again.
As though another paragraph might magically appear if I stared long enough.
One of the babies began to fuss.
Sophie.
The smallest of the three.
I only knew because Melissa had once laughed and told me Sophie was “the tiny boss.”
