Invisible String

14

Three months had passed since Mira came home, and life—messy, beautiful, and exhausting—had slowly begun to settle into a routine. We’d weathered endless nights of pumping, tantrums in aisles, and those precious moments of skin-to-skin closeness. Mira was growing stronger every day, and Lily, now two, was boldly claiming her role as big sister. I’d even begun to feel that delicate balance of hope and quiet acceptance. Or so I thought.

One late afternoon, as I sat at the kitchen table going over some emails from the adoption agency while Lily busied herself with a coloring book in the corner, my phone buzzed insistently. I frowned at the unfamiliar number. It wasn’t Tree, and it wasn’t one of the usual support messages. With a sinking feeling, I answered.

“Hello?”

A measured but tense voice replied, “Hi, Taylor. This is Marlene from the adoption agency. I need to speak with you about something important.”

My stomach knotted. “Okay. What is it?”

There was a pause—a heavy, excruciating pause—before Marlene continued, “We’ve received new communication from Emma. It appears she’s reconsidering her decision regarding Mira.”

I froze, nearly dropping the phone. “Reconsidering? What do you mean?”

“She’s indicated that due to some changes in her personal circumstances, she might not be comfortable finalizing the adoption as planned. We’re still awaiting confirmation, but… the possibility is there that she’d like to maintain contact or even retain partial custody of Mira.”

My heart lurched, and I could barely hear Marlene’s next words through the rush of panic in my head. “What? No… I don’t understand. We… we have been through so much. Travis—” I managed to choke out, feeling as if my voice had become raw and brittle.

Marlene’s tone softened slightly. “I’m so sorry, Taylor. I know this is hard to process. I’m asking you to meet with our legal team as soon as possible to discuss next steps.”

I ended the call, my hands trembling. I looked up to see Lily watching me with wide, worried eyes, while in the living room, Travis was already on his feet. His face was a mix of anger and heartbreak, and I saw that he had been listening through the door.

“Travis,” I whispered, voice barely above a sigh, “what do we do?”

He crossed the room in two strides and pulled me into his arms. “We’ll handle this,” he said firmly, though his eyes betrayed the pain. “We built our life around the promise of our daughter. We won’t let this break us, Tay.”

I tried to steady my breathing as I processed the words. The idea that Emma might pull back, after all our hopes and tears, was too much to bear. I remembered every sleepless night, every whispered promise to Mira that I’d be her forever—and now that promise seemed to be unraveling.

Before I could speak, the doorbell rang. I sighed deeply, dreading the interruption in this raw, painful moment. I opened the door to see Kylie and my Mom standing there, both looking concerned.

“Kylie, Mom … we need to talk,” I said, my voice hoarse.

Kylie’s face immediately tightened with worry. “What happened, Tay?” she asked, stepping inside as Mom followed her.

I set down my phone on the table, its screen still glowing with Marlene’s missed call, and sank into a chair. “Emma might be backing out on Mira. They’re saying she wants to reconsider the adoption.”

Mom's eyes filled with sympathy. “Oh, Taylor… I’m so sorry.”

Kylie wrapped me in a hug, murmuring, “We’re here for you. Whatever you need, you know that.”