Then, the morning after their graduation—a morning that should have been filled with only pride and relief—a stranger appeared at my door and asked,
“So you really don’t know what he did for you?”
That was the second time Sam made my legs go weak.
The first time…
…was in a hospital corridor that smelled of bleach and burnt coffee, where joy and fear clung to the walls as if they were alive.
Riley had been in labor for hours. When Lily and Nora finally arrived, my whole body felt like it was vibrating: exhaustion, relief, and disbelief colliding all at once.
And then they placed them in my arms.
I broke down.
“Two girls,” I whispered, my voice trembling as tears blurred everything. “Two healthy, loved girls.”
Riley smiled slightly, her voice soft but proud. “I told you I’d bring them into the world healthy.”
I laughed through my tears. “You’re never paying for coffee again, Riley.”
But even as I laughed… I was already looking for him in the room.
Looking for him.
