ten years?”
The woman lowered her eyes.Plan Family Trips
“Yes.”
Before I could answer, I heard Lucas calling from the bottom of the hill.
“Grandma! I found it!”
He was running toward us from the car, waving the birthday card he had made for his mother.
The woman looked at him.
“Don’t open that envelope in front of him.”
I stared at her.Track Pregnancy
“Who are you?”
“My name is Trudy.”
“That tells me nothing.”
She took a breath.
“I was one of Teagan’s nurses.”
My stomach dropped.
Lucas was almost beside us now.Study Biology
Trudy pressed the envelope into my hand.
“My number is on the back.”
Then she walked away.
Teagan had been eighteen when she told me she was pregnant.
I asked about the father more times than I could count.
“Does he know?”
“Mom, please.”Support Causes
“What’s his name?”
“I can handle this myself.”
“You shouldn’t have to.”
“Please stop making
this harder.”
Every conversation ended the same way.Plan Family Trips
The day Lucas was born, a doctor entered the waiting room and sat beside me.
“I’m so sorry,” he said. “We did everything we could.”
I stared at him.
“The baby?”
“He’s alive.”
Then he paused.
“He’s going to need you.”Track Pregnancy
My daughter never came home.
My grandson did.
For the next ten years, it was just the two of us.
Lucas grew into a curious, sweet boy who loved baseball, Sunday pancakes, and one question I could never answer.
“Grandma, who was my dad?”