“Mom?”
I wiped my face. Too late, she’d already seen the tears.
He didn’t argue.
“What happened?” my daughter asked.
I tried not to tell her. I really did. But once I started talking, everything came out.
The donor.
The photo.
Daniel.
By the time I finished, Emma was staring at the table.
“You did the right thing sending him away. I don’t want to meet him,” she finally said.
“You don’t have to if that’s what you want.”
She nodded. Several seconds passed.
Then she spoke again.
“What happened?”
“I don’t want a relationship with him right now,” Emma explained. “Maybe not for a long time. But he still shouldn’t be alone.”
That hit harder than anything Daniel had said. That kid had spent two years fighting for her life, and somehow, she still had room in her heart for someone who’d hurt her.
I picked up my phone and called Rachel.
After I finished explaining everything, there was a long silence.
Then she sighed.
“We’ll deal with Megan later.”
“He still shouldn’t be alone.”
“The spare room,” my sister said.
“What?”
“He can stay in my spare room.”
“Rachel…”
“Temporarily.”
I smiled.
“Temporarily.”
“And if I decide he’s annoying, I get to throw him out.”
