“It’s your birthday present, Grandma. Tomorrow is your birthday.”
I had completely forgotten.
Jake sat beside me.
“We wanted you to have something of Grandpa’s forever. Mom told us you sometimes sleep hugging his shirt.”
Tears filled my eyes.
“But why was Lily crying?”
“Because she misses Grandpa. Every time we work on the bear, she asks when he’ll come back.”
Lily whispered, “I wanted to see Grandpa again.”
I pulled her closer.
Jake explained that he had been tracing Lily’s hands onto paper to make little fabric handprints for the bear.
“She kept moving, so I had to start over. Yesterday, she sat on the floor too long, and her leg went numb. That’s why she said it hurt.”
He showed me the two tiny handprints sewn into the fabric.
“We wanted you to have something from both of us.”
I couldn’t speak.
