"Come in. Get out of that uniform. Eat something. Then you can yell at me properly."
Daniel almost refused.
Instead, exhaustion won.
An hour later, he sat at his mother's kitchen table wearing an old college sweatshirt and staring at a plate of eggs he had barely touched.
Margaret sat across from him.
"Tell me everything."
Daniel looked up.
"You already know everything."
"No. I know what happened here. I don't know what happened inside you when you walked through that door."
Daniel said nothing.
His mother waited.
Finally he told her.
The bicycle.
The chalk drawing.
The child.
Who are you?
Emily's face.
The adoption.
Every detail.
Margaret listened without interrupting.
When he finished, she asked, "Do you want the truth or do you want me to agree with you?"
Daniel looked annoyed.
"I want the truth."
"Emily was wrong."
He blinked.
Margaret continued.
"She should have told you. Before Marcus moved in. Before the adoption. Before any permanent decision."
Daniel's shoulders loosened slightly.
"But?"
Margaret sighed.
"But I understand why she did it."
"There it is."
"Understanding is not approval."
Daniel looked away.
Margaret leaned forward.
"That boy had nowhere to go."
"There are procedures."
"There are also children who disappear inside those procedures."
Daniel rubbed his forehead.
"You met him?"
"Many times."
Daniel hated that.
It felt irrational, but he hated that his mother had memories with Marcus that he did not.
"What's he like?"
The question escaped before Daniel could stop it.
Margaret smiled faintly.
"Smart."
Daniel looked at her.
"Too smart sometimes. Talks constantly. Loves dinosaurs and basketball. Hates mashed potatoes. Pretends he isn't afraid of thunderstorms."
Daniel looked down at his hands.
"Does he remember his parents?"
"Yes."
"Both?"
"Mostly his mother. He remembers Elijah too, but the memories are softer."
Daniel swallowed.
Margaret stood and walked to a cabinet.
She returned with a small wooden box.
Daniel recognized it.
It belonged to his father.
Margaret placed it on the table.
"Emily brought this to me six months ago."
Daniel frowned.
"What is it?"
"Open it."
Inside were photographs.
Old military photographs.
Daniel and Elijah.
Young.
Dirty.
Laughing.
Standing beside a vehicle.
One showed Elijah asleep with his mouth open while Daniel held a sign above him that read PRINCESS.