“We buried him.”
“The family?” I asked. “Or her?”
Silence.
“Did you ever ask me, without my mom in the room, if I wanted my son placed with another family?”
Doctor Jefferson looked down. “No.”
“Did you ask Watson?”
“No.”
“Then you never confirmed consent,” I said. “You had a grieving woman’s signature and my mother’s version of grief.”
Doctor Jefferson looked down.
“I told myself Rowan needed a stable home.”
“He had one,” Watson said. “It was ours.”
I picked up the bracelet. “I’m filing for every record. Every page. Every note. And then I’m filing complaints wherever I need to.”
Doctor Jefferson nodded.
“No,” I said. “You don’t understand. But you will.”
“It was ours.”
Watson’s voice cracked. “Where is he?”
“I don’t know now,” the doctor said. “The couple moved years ago.”
I held up the photo. “He found us first.”
***
When we pulled into the driveway, the party was still loud. Riley and Rex were still laughing in the backyard, and my mother’s car sat near the curb.
Watson reached for my hand. “Let me go in first.”
“He found us first.”
“No,” I said. “You’re coming with me.”
We climbed the porch steps together.
A tall boy stood near the railing, as if he’d been deciding whether to knock or run.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I left the box and walked away. But I heard them laughing out back, and I couldn’t leave.”
I knew him before he said another word.
“You’re coming with me.”
“Rowan.”
His eyes filled. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to call you.”
“You don’t have to call me anything yet.”
He looked at Watson. “Are you angry?”
Watson made a broken sound. “At you? Never.”
Rowan looked back at me. “I just needed to know if I was unwanted.”
“No.” I stepped closer, then stopped. “Can I?”
“Are you angry?”
He nodded.
I touched his cheek with two fingers.
He was warm, real, and breathing.
“You were wanted every second, my boy.”
Then the patio door slid open behind us.
Mom stepped through with a bright gift bag. “Dawn? Why are you standing out front? I brought the boys their presents.”
He was warm, real, and breathing.
