He smiled, then went to wake the others.

The house filled with footsteps, laughter, and one small argument about whose turn it was to wear a paper crown.

I didn’t think of it as a perfect holiday.

I thought of it as one in which nobody had to stand in the driveway watching a car take someone away.

PART 17

Early the next spring, a letter came from the records specialist Anna had recommended.

It contained no miraculous discovery, only an update: the search for our siblings had reached an agency that could help forward a message if a record match and the recipient’s consent permitted it.