A few days later, Helen and I visited Mary’s house.
Emily came running toward me in a pink dress.
“Aunt Sarah! Look!”
I knelt and hugged her tightly.
She touched my curls.
“Why do we have the same hair?”
I smiled through my tears.
“Because we belong to the same family, sweetheart.”
Emily tilted her head.
“So you’re really my aunt?”
Mary laughed.
“She’s your great-aunt, honey.”
Emily considered that, then threw her arms around us both.
“Does that mean I have even more people who love me?”
I kissed her forehead.
“More than you can imagine.”
From that day forward, Helen became part of our family too.
Mary and John continued raising Emily with all the love they’d waited eight years to give. Together, we made sure she would grow up knowing about Jessica and Linda, the women who had loved her before she could remember them.
