Something already had.
“I brought her home.”
***
“Leave the papers with me,” I said.
She nodded.
Before she left, she turned at the door.
“Claire, whatever happens, I love her.”
“I know.”
“Claire, whatever happens, I love her.”
Afterward, I took Lucy’s bracelet from my bedroom.
The plastic had yellowed slightly.
Her name was still printed across the front.
I placed it beside the report.
Two pieces of paperwork.
I took Lucy’s bracelet from my bedroom.
Two completely different accounts of the same child’s beginning.
For the first time in five years, I couldn’t tell which one to believe.
***
Over the following days, Nora, Tom, and I spoke with the adoption professionals handling the records review.
I couldn’t tell which one to believe.
An attorney explained that even if the genetic connection was confirmed, it wouldn’t automatically settle the legal questions surrounding Ellie’s adoption.
