There was only one sheet nb of paper.
Mason,
I’m sorry.
I can’t raise them by myself.
Melissa was the one who knew what she was doing. I don’t.
You’re better than me.
Please make sure they’re okay.
Eric.
That was all.
No phone number.
No explanation.
No promise that he was coming back.
I read it again.
Then again.
As though another paragraph might magically appear if I stared long enough.
One of the babies began to fuss.
Sophie.
The smallest of the three.
I only knew because Melissa had once laughed and told me Sophie was “the tiny boss.”
I crouched beside her carrier.
“Hey.”
Her face scrunched.
“Don’t do that.”
She started crying.
“Oh, come on. I just got here.”
