My Mom Called Asking When I Was Coming Back for the Baby Until I Realized Mine Was Already With Me

pages of language I had read three times on the courthouse steps, and it was the most practical love I had ever been given by a document.

When we stepped outside, the sun was too bright for how I felt. My mother walked beside me in silence until we reached the parking lot. Then she stopped.

“I should have known,” she said.

“No,” I said immediately.

“I continue reading …