“I imagined your face at every age,” she whispered.

“Why did you stop trying?” Nicole asked.

June said she had tried for years. Then Mom warned that showing up would confuse us and destroy Nicole’s home, and June had no money, no car, no ally. “I convinced myself staying away was kinder.” “It wasn’t,” Nicole said. June nodded. “I know.”

I asked whether Dad had known. June said he was the one who’d persuaded Mom to keep Nicole.

His shame grew until he started avoiding home, and in the end he left for good. Later, Mom reduced his leaving to simple selfishness — a cleaner story, easier for her to control and easier for us to believe.

Back home, Nicole stayed.