After 3 Boys, We Gave Up Our Dream of a Daughter—Then My Husband Called Me to the Hospital and Said, “There’s a Baby Here”

Complicated.

His sister Brenda had died five years earlier, and after that Clara seemed to lose whatever anchor she had left.

She moved between temporary apartments and unstable jobs.

Sometimes she called Marcus for help.

Sometimes she disappeared for months.

He paid her rent twice.

Bought groceries.

Once drove three hours because she called him crying from a bus station.