She said to the woman, “Who are you?”
The woman started crying.
“I’m your biological mother.”
I turned to Adelina. “You do not have to deal with this right now.”
She looked at me for one long second, then said, “No. We’re doing it now.”
So we all went into the kitchen.
She talked about getting pregnant young.
David sat beside Adelina. I sat on her other side. The woman sat across from us and folded her hands in her lap like she was afraid to touch anything.
Adelina said, “Tell me everything.”
So she did.
She talked about getting pregnant young. About Adelina’s father being gentle and funny. About his sister helping with babysitting. About the fever that kept her home. About racing to the hospital and being told the people from that car were gone.
“Because after a while I started thinking maybe I was losing my mind.”
Then Adelina asked, “Did you stop looking for me?”
The woman’s eyes filled again. “Not right away. But eventually… yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I was broken,” she said. “Because I was poor. Because I was told I was wrong over and over. Because after a while I started thinking maybe I was losing my mind.”
David muttered, “That’s not a great answer.”
I could have lied. I didn’t.
She looked at him and nodded. “I know.”
Adelina asked, “Why come now?”
“Because you deserved the truth even if you hated me for it.”
Then Adelina turned to me and asked the question that gutted me.
“Are you scared I’ll leave?”
I could have lied. I didn’t.
Adelina stared at me for two seconds.
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