Was please, my baby, just stay.

“Wow, that’s powerful,” Evie said, softly. “Do you think that’s about Mom?”

Mia swallowed hard. “I do.”

“What’s about me?” Kate asked from the doorway.

Evie looked at her aunt for guidance. “I was snooping around and found this box of Grandma’s stuff.”

Kate’s face didn’t change. “Oh. Well, I’m going to take a shower. I just got back from the gym.”

She walked toward the closet. “Mom, you need to see this.” Evie held out the yellow pad.

"I'm sweaty and tired. I really need to get my shower," Kate said, not looking at her daughter.

Evie stood up and walked to the closet. She held out the pad once again. "Your mother wrote this about you. I think you'll want to read it."

Kate sighed and took the notepad, walking over to the rocking chair in the corner of the room and sitting down. She sat there, staring down at the words, but saying nothing.

"That's really nice," she finally said, handing the pad back to her daughter. She picked up her clothes that she had set in a pile on the dresser and walked out of the room toward the bathroom.

"I don't know what her problem is."

Mia smiled sadly. "We can't begin to understand what she's going through. I mean, here she is at thirty-seven years old finding out her parents aren’t who she thought they were. And then she finds her birth mother only to learn that she’s passed away. She's got a lot of conflicting emotions, so we just have to give her some grace."

"I guess so. I just think she's going to regret not seeing all of this stuff."

"Look at this," Mia said, holding up what appeared to be a journal.

"What is it?"

"It looks like my Momma kept some journals, from all the way back when she was about your age. This one is from high school."

Mia stared down at the pages, turning each one slowly, her eyes occasionally welling up with tears. Evie wanted to grab it straight out of her hands and read every detail, but she refrained. This had to be hard on her aunt to relive all these memories and find out her mother’s innermost thoughts.

“Does she talk about my mom in there?"

"She does. She talks about how scared she is being pregnant. How she doesn't want to tell her mom and dad. How much she loves her baby’s father."

“Can I read it?"

Hesitantly, Mia handed her the journal. She wiped away a few stray tears as she watched Evie read it.

I felt the baby kick for the first time today. It's so weird. I never imagined it would feel like this. Keeping this pregnancy a secret is getting harder. My sweatshirts, even the big ones, are starting to get tight. I think my mom suspects something.

"She must've been terrified."