“Not during winter,” Iris says, laughing weakly.

“Would that bother you? If I wanted to go back?” Grant asks.

She sees he’s serious. “It would be fine with me. But you’ve never wanted to go back there before.”

“Do you want to go back to Russia, Mom? Like a tourist?”

She measures her answer. “I don’t think so. I don’t much like snow.”

Now he gives her a long look, the kind she gives him when he’s dodging a question. “Was there anything weird about my adoption?”

“All adoptions are weird,” Iris says. “What’s brought this on?”

“Danielle has made me think of all that. What it must have been like for her, and for you and Dad, to go so far away to get me. You never talk much about it.”

“It was a process. It doesn’t matter. What matters is you are our son and you are deeply loved.”

“You’re my mom,” Grant says. “My real mom. But my biological mom and dad…I’d like to know about them. I could have asked Danielle, or her contacts there, about them.”

Peter looks uncomfortable, trapped in this family conversation, and he stares deep into his coffee mug.

Iris pours herself a cup of coffee. “Once adoptions stopped from Russia, Danielle didn’t do business there anymore,” Iris says. “I don’t know if she still even stayed in touch with anyone there.”

“Did you ever meet my mother or my father?”

“No, honey. It’s not allowed. Why would we want to meet them?”

“What if my mom gave me up because she was a drug addict? Wouldn’t you want to know?”

“I don’t know what she was,” Iris says steadily, “but we were told she was healthy when she gave birth to you. There was nothing in your health history to suggest otherwise.”

“So why didn’t she want me?” Grant’s voice rose.

“I don’t know, Grant. Maybe she couldn’t afford to keep you. Maybe she believed an American couple would adopt you and you’d have a better life.” Iris keeps her voice mom-steady. “We can’t know. But I’m so grateful to her for making her choice. I’ll be forever grateful to her.”

“Have you ever lied to me about anything that happened in Russia?”

“No. We have not.” Iris makes her voice steel.

Grant digests this. “I would like to see Saint Petersburg.”

“It is a lovely city. Have you ever been, Peter?” Just trying to change the subject, to get the pressure off her. “Your dad is such a world traveler.”

Peter shakes his head. “Dad loathes the Russians for what they did to Czechoslovakia back in the day. He won’t go there, won’t invest there. He says there’s too many criminals in power. Did you enjoy your time there?”