Even though it’s warm in the airport, I put the hood of my jacket over my head.

“It’s fine. I can wait,” I reply. I’m almost relieved to have a little more time before I step inside their house.

“No,” Paula says more defiantly. “I can’t. I can’t let her go.” She reaches for Craig. “Don’t take Mandy away from me again. I can’t bear it.” She buries her head in his chest.

He brushes her hair. “It’s okay. It’s over. The nightmare is over. She’s here now. She’s not going to be taken away from you.”

I keep forgetting about what this has been like for Paula. While I have no memories of her, Paula had three years of my life engraved in her mind and heart. She carried me in her womb for nine months. I was once a part of her, and then I vanished.

I put my hand on her shoulder. It’s the first time I’ve reached out to her—in any way. “It’s okay. Nothing is going to happen to me. I’ll be right behind you. I really don’t want to be on TV, so this is for the best.”

Paula sniffles for a few seconds before peeling herself away from Craig. She wipes her tears. “I’m sorry for blubbering. I’m just so scared …” She reaches out and touches my chin gently. “I don’t want you to disappear from me again.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” I tell her. It’s true. I’m legally in her custody now, and I couldn’t leave even if I tried.

I’m slowly becoming resigned to the fact that Paula deserves to spend time with the daughter who disappeared. Maybe I shouldn’t think only about myself for a while.

Craig holds her hand. “We’ve got to go. We don’t want the journalists to be suspicious.”

“I bet it was Randy,” she says. “He’s always so desperate for attention. I can see him blabbing. Makes him feel big, important. The jackass.”

“We’ll figure it out,” Craig says as he rubs her back. “But we’ve got to go.”

“Maybe Man—Ally should go first?”

“Too great a risk for her to be recognized,” Craig counters. He reaches into his back pocket to get his wallet. He pulls out a twenty-dollar bill and hands it to me. “Why don’t you get yourself a treat while you wait? Your grandmother is going to text you so you have her number and then let you know when the coast is clear.”

I nod as I look at the twenty-dollar bill. It’s like nothing to him. Dad and I could make twenty dollars stretch to feed us for an entire weekend if we needed it, and sometimes we did.