PART 2

“Are you our dad?”

Savannah’s voice was soft, clear, and completely free of any bitterness or hidden accusation.

She was just an eight-year-old child standing beneath a archway decorated with evergreen garland and warm white lights, looking up at Terrence with the simple curiosity of a young girl trying to figure out if a missing piece of her life story was standing right in front of her.

The room stayed dead quiet for what felt like an eternity.

Terrence stared down at her face, then looked over at Mason, Wyatt, and Delilah, before finally raising his eyes to meet mine.

PART 3

The Question Nobody Could Escape

I had imagined many answers to Savannah’s question.

I had not imagined Terrence would open his mouth and find no words at all.

“Yes,” I said gently, before his silence could settle into her memory as rejection.

“Terrence is your biological father.”

Wyatt took one step behind me.

Delilah tucked her hand into mine.

Mason watched the room with the same serious attention he gave a difficult chess problem.

Savannah kept looking up at Terrence.

“Did you know we were coming?” she asked.

“No,” he managed.