I put the letter down and look out at the mountains, fat tears streaming down my face. She still loved me, despite knowing the truth. She didn’t want a different daughter, a better daughter, a more ambitious, sorted, successful daughter, she wanted me – and so, I now know, does Dad. It feels like a cloud has lifted and I’m suddenly seeing what’s been there all along. I think of how much I adore Léa, how sometimes she feels like mine; I think of Maggie, who has always been like a second mother to me; and I see Anna, who gave me up out of love, but who clearly loves Hedi just as much. Biology isn’t everything, after all.

I feel like I’ve got my life back, and all the history embodied by those family photos is mine to cherish once again. It may not have been the life I was meant to have, but it was mine. However unusual, this has been my place in the world since the beginning. I breathe out a long, shaky breath and feel the tension in my shoulders release, the pressure in my head ease, as relief floods through my veins. And I realise this relief is not only for what’s gone before, but for what my future could bring, too.

Biology isn’t everything.

What possibilities could be open to me, if only I remember that?

My phone pings and I reach into my bag and fish it out.

How did it go, guapa? Are you ok?

I wipe my tears away and smile. I picture Jorge’s face – his unbrushed mop of hair, the amused look in his eyes after he pushed me in the pool – and I think how, during this mission into my past, he’s been the only thing that’s made me look forward and think about what happens after. About the future.

I text back:

Can we meet up this week? Because I need to go home. I’m okay, but I need to go home.

The cake was a little uneven where Julia had cut off a burnt bit, but it tasted surprisingly good.

‘You know I didn’t mean you should stay at home and make cakes, don’t you?’ I say to her, testing our new-found entente cordiale.

She laughs, runs her fingers through her hair. ‘Actually, Léa made it. She’s far better at it than me. But I supervised, and it was fun.’ She gives me a wry smile and I know she means it.

‘Jess! We got you something!’ Léa comes barrelling into the lounge, closely followed by Luca and Michel, a grin on his face. Léa’s holding her hands behind her back and when they reach us, Michel whispers something to his daughter and she brings out a pink box with a big white bow and hands it to me. ‘For you,’ she says.