Page 55 of The Aftermath

“I don’t have kids, Angel.”

“Are you sure? How sure are you? Did you do a test?” He reaches up and rests his hands on my shoulders to stop me from talking.

“Angel, baby. Listen to what I have to say, okay?” I nod my head, unsure what the hell is going on with him. I wouldn’t be mad if he had a kid; I would have just liked to have known ahead of time.

“I don’t have a kid, Angel. That little girl over there, her name is Carly.”

“Okay?”

“Carly was adopted when she was born.” I don’t see where the hell he’s going with this if that isn’t his kid.

“Okay?”

“Baby, Carly is your daughter.” My mouth falls open as tears spring to my eyes and slide down my cheeks. My hand comes up to cover my mouth as sobs rip out of me. Silas pulls me into his arms and holds me tightly.

“What? How? What is she doing here?”

“I know this is a lot for you, and I know it’s a shock. When things started to settle down, I made some calls and pulled some strings. I know this doesn’t fix things, but I thought it would help. Her family is amazing. They’re good people, Angel. They’ve taken good care of her. They agreed to let you see her.”

“What? Why?”

“She was taken from you in the most horrible way. I told them the story or the basics anyway. They couldn’t imagine having that happen at such a young age. They only ask that you say you’re a friend of her mom’s. When she’s old enough, they’d like to tell her who you really are.” I gasp.

“They would do that?”

“Yeah, baby. When I said they’re good people, I meant it.” My hands begin to tremble as I think about everything that’s happening. I can’t believe she’s here, standing just feet away from me. My own flesh and blood.

“You did this for me?” I ask Silas.

“I told you I’d do anything for you. I mean it. You want to go meet her?” I look over at Rylan and Tamsyn and they both smile back at me. I turn back to Silas and nod my head, wiping the tears from my cheeks.

Silas grabs my hand as he carries my shoes as we walk toward them. When we’re close enough, the woman smiles at me before grabbing me and pulling me into a hug.

“I don’t know how to thank you for this,” I whisper in her ear.

“No. I need to thank you for a beautiful little girl.” We both begin to cry when she finally pulls away. I shake hands with her husband, and then they call her over. When she steps in front of me, they tell her I’m a friend. She beams up at me, and I can see myself in her eyes.

“You want to come look for dolphins with me?” she asks. I look at her mom, and she nods her head. Carly holds her hand out, and I take it slowly. She leads me across the beach and out near the water.

“Have you ever seen a dolphin?” I ask her.

“Once. Do you know that dolphins are my favorite thing? They love people,” she tells me, never letting go of my hand.

“I heard they did. I’ve never seen one before. Only on TV.”

“You have to see one, Angel. I like your name. Are you a real angel?” she asks. I laugh now.

“No. I’m not, but I have a good friend who is.”

“What’s her name?”

“He’s a boy. His name is Levi,” I tell her.

“I like that name too. When I pray before bed, I will say a prayer for Levi, too.” My heart nearly beats out of my chest. We talk about anything and everything. She’s really smart and tells me all about school and her dog named Fred. We laugh at his name because she tells me her dad chose it, and she didn’t like it, but now he looks like a Fred.

“This is a pretty dress.” She pulls at my dress.

“Thank you. I like yours too.”

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