I Begged My Parents to Care for My Newborn After a Truck Accident. At 2 A.M., the Uncle They Dismissed Walked Into My Hospital Room.

With my left hand, clumsy and shaking, I took the envelope.

Seraphina Elise Hayes.

Not my married name, because I had never married.

Hayes.

My mother’s maiden name.

“Why would she write Hayes?” I whispered.

Inside was a single sheet of paper and a smaller photograph.

The photograph fell onto my blanket.