Flowe

ays. He resisted. He pleaded with me to let it go.

could feel it now-a hardness, a presence. Lily. I tried to imagine a future where I kept this baby.

rly would act. And I would lose Lily anyway-only later, only after I'

clean, on my terms, before Kimberly could make it slow and bloody. That was th

dn't tell him. I just let him keep talking, fillin

ds came in a torrent, each o

consumed with Kimberly's new venture. He was pouring all his energy into it.

don had been distant. He said work was crazy. He was "investing" in Kimberly's fi

al records when she was 'cleaning up' your office. She panicked. She knew a baby wo

ed. A cold drea

that induces miscarriage. You had a hemorrhage. A

I relived the phant

By the time he got to the hospital, it was too late. You lost the baby. A gi

er. Lily. You never fully recovered,

me. This child, the one I had just found out about, the one who wasn't supposed to be

The streets were deserted. My mind was eerily calm,

regnancy," I told the doc

kind but searching. "Are you absolutely

I said, the word a whispe

over, I folded the ultrasound pictures, the proof of a life that would never

e I had "won." I had secretly arranged for them to live in a secure, anonymous location, under new identities. They b

my father asked, hugging me tig

at ached. "Just a little,

owing smaller and smaller. My parents. Safe. That was all that matte

t time. He was in the living room, immersed in a financ

his laptop. "Long day? Did your par

ood sweetheart, my fiancé. The man who would allow my family to be de

What would you do if I wasn't here

took my face in his hands

. "Don't say things like that. If you disappeared, I would fi

is voice was full of conviction

cent, familiar and comforting, filled my senses. It was the last time.

d search. But he would nev