gold medals, Daniel finally saw the part that hurt most.
They had not spent thirteen years waiting for him to become their father.
They had spent those years becoming themselves.
Owen handed me my bag and nodded toward the exit.
“Ready, Mom?”
I looked once across the auditorium.
Daniel was still standing near the back, watching the three boys talk together.
Then I turned away.
“Yes,” I said. “Let’s go home.”
In the morning, Daniel had demanded to know how I dared come there.
By evening, the answer was hanging in gold around my sons’ necks.
I had never come for him.
I had come for my children.
