O

red back at me from a pregnancy test. I sat on my bathroom floor in my be

my reflection in the toilet

actually morning sickness. The exhaustion was not from crying myself to sle

ant with a

ill sitting on the cold tile, staring a

d when she saw the test in my hands. "

cy test that just told me I am having

ce in her life, she was speechle

es not exist? Because I saw you leave with him, and last I check

ered him. Security footage shows me going into an empty suite. There is no record of anyone staying in

my hands and studied it like it might reveal the mysteries of the universe. "Ric

Evidence of th

of their

at I was. What this baby was. A mistake that so

have this baby in Seattle. Everyone will know. They will count backwards and figure out it happened right af

moment. Then she said, "

he could throw me some freelance work if I ever wanted to relocate." I stood up, energy

nt to r

n toward some

to a U-Haul truck. My parents cried. Maya cried.

ed, hugging me so tight I could barely breathe. "I do not care if it is thre

l. I p

my car like I was moving to Antarctica instead of three hours south. D

ve," I admitted. "

errified," he said. "That

city full of people who minded their own business. I found a tiny studio apartment

ll projects that kept me fed and housed. I learned to work around morning sickness, design

ess, but a life. A new version of myself who did not a

or a local coffee shop. I stopped what I was doing and put my hand

whispered. "Just you and

ight. If he had any idea what we had created together. But mostly, I tried not to t

e partners traveled for work. Nobody asked too many questions about my situation. They just

felt like someone was trying to rearrange my internal organs. Maya flew in just in time to hold m

perfection. He had my nose and mouth, but his eyes were the strangest shade of gold I had ever s

olor, like liquid sunlight. Sometimes I caught him staring at me wi

out how to breastfeed without feeling like I was being attacked by a very sm

rmly. "I am raising him to

n easy baby, but he was also strange in ways I could not quite put my finger on. He never cried when strangers held him, but he would get f

n with a stray dog in the park. Not baby babble-actual conversation. T

?" I asked Maya over

als all the time,

og was tal

not tal

. I swear it

a moment. "Maybe yo

ed me for. But I was happy. Happier than I had been in years. Alex and

ist. Word of mouth in Portland was everything, and apparently, I had dev

up getting the call th

, bouncing Alex on my hip while

arrock Industries. We are interested in

Fortune 500, an international corporation, huge. They did not h

ave the wrong person

hic designer, specializin

s,

to meet with you to discuss a complete corporate rebr

think a

s is a seven-figure contract.

to buy a house, start a college fund, maybe even take a va

you back tomo

was trying to eat his own foot with t

, baby boy? Ready

d, I could have sworn I saw something wild and knowing in that smile. Something t

was imp

gh