My phone rang.
Daniel.
I let it ring.
Then I answered.
Neither of us spoke at first.
His breathing was ragged.
“Kesha,” he said.
I closed my eyes.
“You knew.”
A sob tore through him.
“I saw the pictures.”
My hand tightened around the phone.
“How many?”
“All of them.”
The room tilted again.
“The incubators?”
“Yes.”
“The medical notes?”
“Yes.”
“The letter where I begged your mother to come because I was scared they would die?”
Silence.
Then, barely audible, “Yes.”
I stood so fast my chair rolled backward.
Lena reached for me, but I shook my head.
“You let me bury that fear alone.”
“I was weak.”
“No,” I said, voice shaking now. “Weak is not enough. You were their father for ten minutes in that office, and you chose to become a stranger again.”
He cried openly.
“I know.”
“No, Daniel. You knew then. That’s the problem.”
