“Start at the beginning.”

He rubbed his hands against his shorts.

“The first night you were sleeping at the hospital, Grandma Tracy went to get coffee. I was trying to sleep on the chair. I was supposed to stay there.”

“Supposed to?”

He lowered his eyes.

“I went looking for Dad.”

“Where did you find him?”

“Near the elevators.”

“Was he alone?”

Willie shook his head.

“He was talking to a lady.”

“What lady?”

“I’m not sure, Mommy. Daddy gave her a thick envelope.”

My stomach tightened.

“How do you know what was inside?”

“She opened it. I saw money.”

“What happened after that?”

“She took the bundle away.”

“What bundle?”

Willie swallowed.

“The crying one.”

I stared at him.

“You heard a baby crying?”

He nodded.

“The lady picked the baby up. I couldn’t see her face at first. Then Daddy touched the baby’s head.”

I gripped the mattress.

“Willie, did you know her?”

He nodded again.

“You know her too, Mommy.”

“Who?”

“She came to see you the next day.”

Faces flashed through my mind, but I couldn’t place who he meant.

“Willie. Who was she?”

His lip trembled.

“You know her too, Mommy.”

“Who?”

Finally, he whispered:

“Aunt Claire.”

I went still.

Claire was Robert’s younger sister.

Her daughter, Ivy, had been born only weeks before Claudia was due. Everyone had joked that the girls would grow up together—sharing birthdays, attending school together, eventually becoming inseparable cousins.

Claire visited me the day after Claudia died.