A Nurse Mentioned the Woman Visiting My Dying Husband—Then She Came to My Door With a Letter About a Five-Year-Old Boy

For once, a list did not make me feel in control.

It made me see how much I did not yet know.

The family-law attorney looked at the information I brought, then at me.

“Can you afford to raise another child right now, Gemma?”

“Not right at this moment.”

“Good.”

I stared at him.

“That seems like a strange response.”