She had asked whether I would still want her if it was.

I put the phone down and went to check on her.

She was asleep on her side, one arm around the bear, the pink blanket pulled up beneath her chin.

I eased the bedroom door nearly shut and returned to the kitchen.

The cream envelope was still on the table, beside the blanket’s loose thread that had come away when I tucked her in.

I laid the thread beside the old number and read the attorney’s name again.