At Christmas, My Parents Made My Adopted Daughter Wash Dishes. Then a Letter Revealed the Secret They Had Kept for Six Years.

“Hi,” she whispered.

Camilla crouched, leaving plenty of space between them.

“Your dad says you know the names of more planets than most adults.” Chloe looked at me, suspicious of such public praise.

Then she said, “Pluto is a dwarf planet.” Camilla nodded solemnly.

“Thank you for telling me.

I always forget.”

They spent ten minutes watching jellyfish drift through blue light.

Chloe eventually told Camilla which ones reminded her of lanterns.