“Daniel, listen to me. You were a baby. You had done nothing wrong. Eleanor was young and frightened, and she believed she was giving you a better life. Your father and I wanted a child more than anything in the world. When we were offered the chance to adopt you, we loved you before we even brought you home.”
She took my face in her hands.
“You were never a burden. Never a replacement. Never a mistake.”
I looked into her eyes.
She was crying too hard to speak clearly.
“I changed your diapers. I sat beside you when you had a fever. I stayed awake when you were afraid of the dark. I watched you take your first steps.”
She laughed through her tears.
“And you were the most stubborn baby I had ever seen.”
I managed a weak smile.
“That sounds familiar.”
“It should. You got it from your father.”
