“I shouldn’t expect you to trust me simply because Sophie does.”
She said nothing.
“My house is available if you want it. For you and your daughter. No strings attached.”
“And if I say no?”
“Then I give you my number and go home.”
“You’d really leave?”
“If that’s what you want.”
Mia glanced toward the half-assembled crib in the corner of the motel room.
“I get paid Friday. I almost have enough for the deposit.”
“Then maybe you don’t need someone to rescue you.”
She looked at me.
“Maybe you just need somewhere safe until Friday.”
Her expression softened.
Then another worry appeared.
“What about the paperwork? Everything from the hospital is in my name. Sophie wasn’t supposed to have her this long.”
“Then we stop hiding.”
Mia looked frightened.
“What if they think I’m a terrible mother?”
“Tell them the truth.”
She stared at me.
“The whole truth.”
Slowly, she picked up her phone.
“Will you stay while I call?”
“Yes.”
I sat beside her while she contacted the hospital.
When the call ended, Mia stood and grabbed her bag.
“They said they’ll help me sort everything out tomorrow.”
Then she looked straight at me.
“Take me to my daughter.”
When we pulled into my driveway, Sophie was standing at the window holding the baby.
She rushed to the front door.
Then she froze.
“Mom?”
I stepped aside.
Mia stood behind me.
The moment Sophie saw her, her face crumpled.
“I think she needs her mother,” I said.
Mia was already moving forward.
The two girls met in the doorway, with the baby between them.
Later that night, Sophie and I sat together at the kitchen table.
There was still one truth she needed to hear from me.
“Your father never knew about Mia.”
Sophie stared at me.
“You didn’t know either?”
“No.”
