Lynell closes her eyes and nods, her chin grazing his hair. “I know.”

“I wish I could have held her,” he says, voice growing in strength.

“I know.”

“I wish I could have seen her take her first steps.”

She runs her hand through his hair. “Me too.”

He leans back and stares at her, eyes red. “Have you seen her?”

Lynell rubs her nose, wiping the snot away with her sleeve. “Not since she was born.”

Daniel drops to his butt and stares with his mouth hanging open. “She . . . she doesn’t know us.”

Shaking her head, Lynell pulls her knees up to her chest.

“Every day I wanted to call you and tell you about her. Tell you I had her. I think about her every day, wishing I could see her face, hear her laugh, hold her hand. I hate what I did. I regret keeping her from you. But I couldn’t stand the thought of hurting her. All I could think about was . . . was my life here.” She gestures around her, looking at the dirty kitchen with the grime on the walls and empty bottles littering the countertops. She looks at Daniel, whose face has fallen, watching her with complete attention. “I didn’t think I’d be a good mom. I was so scared of seeing Anna feel pain, fear, and hopelessness. I didn’t want to ruin her.”

“Lyn . . .” Daniel reaches forward and grabs her hand.

He doesn’t look at her as she speaks, and with each word, she feels herself breaking open. “I don’t know where she is. It was a closed adoption.” Lynell chews on her cheek and forces the words. “I made the biggest mistake of my life, and I can never take it back. I understand if you can’t forgive me. If you don’t love me anymore.” Lynell removes her hand from Daniel. He looks up quickly and shakes his head.

“Lyn . . .” Still sitting on the kitchen floor, Daniel pulls Lynell forward so she’s sitting between his legs. “I don’t love you despite the mistakes you’ve made. I love you with your mistakes. Yes, I’m heartbroken. I hate that I don’t know Anna.” Lynell tenses and Daniel runs his fingers through her hair, kissing her forehead. “And I have to be honest, I am a little angry. Angry that you let me think that you Registered our unborn child. But mostly, I’m sad. I’m sad that I don’t know her, never will.”

She lets him hold her and caress her hair and kiss her head.

“But I do love you. Very much.”

They sit there until she hears his stomach growl and the pain in her hand becomes too much to ignore. He stands, helping her to her feet.

“I don’t deserve you,” Lynell says, watching him grab a half-empty bottle of honey that’s already starting to crystallize from the back of a cupboard.

Daniel smiles at her and sets the honey down. He turns, pecks her lips, and says, “I’m no more than a man who wants a chance to love you more every day.” He steps behind her and grabs a bottle from the counter, dumping two pills onto his hand. “Now take these so that chance becomes real,” he says with a wink.