“It was almost the end of our shift. I was putting away the buckets in the supply closet, your mom’s and mine. When I came back, your mother was crouched down next to a bum.”
“Sam! He might not have been a bum. I think he was very sick. His skin was whitish-gray and he had been crying. His eyeswere dark red and puffy. That poor man. H-he said his wife had just died in childbirth.”
Sophie’s mouth dropped open. “Was that my father?”
“It was. At least, we believe it was. He was in horrible shape, honey. I didn’t even realize you were there at first, you were so little, hidden under a folded up coat on his lap.”
A thousand questions sprang instantly into Sophie’s mind, but none came out of her mouth.My mother is dead. She didn’t leave me. She died. She died giving birth to me.Guilt, sadness, and love were rushing through her, clouding her mind.Why? Why did she die? Is it something that I have? Is there something in our genes?She swallowed. “My mother died.”
“I know, Baby. My heart broke for you, for both of you. I asked him if he needed help or if the baby needed help.” Her mother’s olive skin was pale and her face was tight. “That’s when he changed our lives. Daddy came over to us and knelt down next to me, thinking I was trying to help a sick man. The man looked at both of us and put you in my arms. He said the sunrise was coming and he had to go or he would miss it. We don’t know what he was talking about.”
Sophie jumped in her seat.The sunrise. He was talking about the sunrise itself.“He was pale, like me?”
“Close. We thought you were both sick and cold. It was February, after all, and you were wrapped in a shirt and nothing else.”
“He gave me to you? Just like that?” Anger flared this time.So what if he was grieving? You can’t just hand your tiny, helpless daughter off to total strangers you meet in a train station! The pale, grieving man with red eyes was hurrying toward sunrise... to do what? Catch up to his dead wife? And what was she, a human? Am I half-human, half-vampire? Does something like that exist?
I have to call Jesse.
“He asked if we would take you to the nearest police station because he said he couldn’t raise you. He said—”
What did he say, Daddy?” Sophie whispered.
“It was all his fault. He shouldn’t have let it happen. I don’t know what that means, either. Precious, listen to me. He was heartbroken, not thinking right. Okay? If something happened to your mother, I’d blame myself, too, even if there was nothing I could do to prevent it. That’s just how it feels when you love someone so much.”
“But he didn’t love me?”
“He loved you so much, he wouldn’t let you be in danger, too. I don’t know what the danger was or if it was all in his mind, but he begged me to keep you safe and get you to the nearest police station.” Ali seized her daughter’s shoulder as she turned away. “He kissed his fingers and pressed them to your head. I could tell it was killing him to leave, but he made himself do it. He ran, up the stairs and straight out of the station.”
Sophie nodded, silent. Anger and sorrow were dulling her curiosity. What had her parents done? Had they simply kept her?
“This is where Darrell helped. He was the nearest officer, just finishing his shift. When he heard what happened, he got a search set up for your birth father. No one found a trace of him. They even ran the footage from the security cameras. As soon as he stepped out from the underhang of the station, he literally disappeared from the tape. He must have been swallowed up in a crowd.”
Or he died in the sunlight. What happens to vampires in the sun? Do they burst into flame? Melt like the Wicked Witch? Again, gotta call Jesse.
“What happened to me while they were searching?”
Her mother explained, “Youshouldhave been taken to a hospital and then foster care.”
“But?”
“We didn’t want to let you go. We didn’t know what would happen to you, or if they’d even consider us for foster parents if we went through all the red tape, so... Uncle Darrell and Aunt Izzy helped cut it,” her father couldn’t help but smile. “She was still a social worker back then, still getting her psych degree. Uncle Darrell told the sergeant in charge that your birth father gave you into our care and we had contacted the police, whichwastrue. Aunt Izzy had a friend who worked for Youth and Family. She came over and did the emergency home study. My mother and Tatik raced around the city— and you know what terrible drivers both of them were— buying everything your mother told them to get, formula, diapers, a crib, blankets... The foster care system was and probably still is a hot mess. Infants need someone who can care for them full-time. Newborns who might have medical issues were hard to place.”
“So you got approved because no one else wanted to bother with me?” Sophie couldn’t keep the edge of bitterness from her voice.
“No, Baby Girl. We got you because we moved heaven, earth, and the bureaucratic jackasses running this city. We got you because we wanted you and we fought for you. We got you because our whole family prayed for you, across oceans and state lines. Not a person we knew didn’t stop and pray for you.” Her father’s eyes glittered with emotion. “Everyone who heard was in shock, but no one doubted you were meant for us. They’d been praying. You were a miracle. Youarea miracle. Look at you. You get more miraculous each year.” His thick dark fingertips pressed her then milky ones, mechanic’s calluses to cellist’s calluses. “There’s a little more to tell. You know how it ended. Should we stop?”
“What else?” Sophie let her fingers lace through his for a moment, smiling crookedly.
“Uncle Darrell got promoted to sergeant after helping with your case. He spent hours and hours of overtime investigating every possible lead and source to make sure you weren’t kidnapped or missing and trying to find your biological family. No leads. We were able to adopt you and whether you believe it or not, I think that’s what your birth father wanted. Maybe not us, but he wanted us to take you to the police station so you’d get placed with a good family. He knew he wasn’t okay, honey. He might have hurt you. He might have hurt himself. If he hurt himself while he had you, out alone somewhere— I don’t wanna think about that.”
Her mother jumped in, voice strained and trembling with emotion, “Sophie, you were put there for a reason, I believe that. Everything fell into place faster than we could have imagined. Within two months, you were legally our baby, our daughter. A fast-tracked home study and private legal adoption? In two months? You are a miracle in so many ways. You see, Sophie? God put you there, God put us there.”
Sophie felt some of the anger replaced by peace. There was no doubting the sincerity of her parents’ words. She sat silent, allowing herself to be enfolded by two sets of arms.
“Maybe he was very ill. Close to death. It happens sometimes, Sophie, even in this modern world. It happens,” her father rested his heavy jaw on her head. She felt wet drops dotting her hair.
“Don’t cry, Daddy.”
