“But it’s my life, Nate. It’s not a reality show.”

Nate nodded. “I get that. I don’t want it to be a reality show. But if I’m right, if there’s more going on here than either of us understand, the best time to capture it is now, as it’s happening.”

“I can’t be an actor in your play.”

“See, that’s just it. I don’t want you to act. I want you to be yourself. Dude, you’re the gift in all of this, don’t you see? When your parents picked you up from the hospital that day, you didn’t do anything to make them happy other than being you. Poopy diapers and all. Crying in the night, right?”

David stared at the floor.

“Think of it this way. If you’re right and this recording thing is a bad idea, we stop, I delete the files, and that’s it.”

“You’d do that?”

“Yes. If that’s what you wanted. But flip it around. What if there is something bigger going on than me interviewing you about your birth parents? What if this turns out to be something that, I don’t know, somebody sees that helps them realize how valuable life really is?”

David thought a moment, then looked up at Nate. “You promise, if I ask you to delete the recordings, you’ll do it?”

“A hundred percent.”

David stood and sat in the chair Nate had set up at the foot of the bed.

Nate smoothed out the wrinkles on the bed and took his place behind the camera. “This looks fantastic. You ready?”

“What do you want me to talk about?”

“Just let it come from inside. Start with how you’ve felt about your adoption. Begin there. And look right in the lens, right here, okay?” Nate hit the Record button and pointed at David.

“I always wondered why they put me up for adoption. I guess I put it out of my mind because I didn’t want to be different.”

“Wait, wait,” Nate said. “Can you say that again? You didn’t want to be an idiot?”

“I didn’t want to be different. Different.”

“Okay, good,” Nate said. “That’s a lot better. Let’s try that again but give me more, okay?”

“More what?”

“I don’t know, more emotion? Look, I need to see it in your eyes. I need to feel it in your words.” Nate gestured with his hands.

“What?” David said. He grabbed a tennis ball and tossed it in front of him.

“You have the emotion of a rock,” Nate said. “I need you to pull me in a little bit. Okay? I need something else from you. Just talk about not fitting in but don’t hold anything in. Put it all out there. All right? Don’t hold anything back.”

“Okay,” David said, sitting up straight on the bed.