“After a while,” she said, “I stopped trying. I told myself he was better off. I made mistakes. I know I did. But I did not wake up one morning and decide I didn’t want my son.”
Ryan’s face softened. Just for a moment.
Then he spoke.
“You always do this.”
She looked up. “Do what?”
“You tell the part where somebody else made you leave.” He shook his head. “And you leave out what happened after I found you.”
She went quiet.
Ryan turned to me.
“The first two times we met, it was good,” he said. “Really good. We talked for hours. She told me stories about when I was a baby that I’d never heard. I was thinking about inviting her to the wedding.”
He took a breath.
“Then she started asking for things. She wanted to be introduced as my mother. In front of everyone. She wanted a seat in the front row with the immediate family. She wanted to be in the professional photos. She wanted an invitation to the rehearsal dinner.”
