Instead, I took out my phone and typed one question: Did you receive a letter from Lauren seven years ago telling me she was pregnant?

I stared at it for a long time before pressing send.

PART 7

I slept in fragments.

At some point after midnight, my phone lit up with a reply from my mother: We should discuss this in person.

There are details you don’t understand.

I read the message and put the phone facedown.

A denial would have been easier to understand.