He found her. After all these years, he found her. Her name is Lily. Lily, the same name I gave her before they took her away. She's 6 years old, blonde hair, brown eyes.
She lives in Chicago with her adoptive father, Daniel Carter. She's beautiful, she's healthy, she's alive. I'm going to find her. I'm going to see my daughter's face. Daniel's vision blurred.
He turned more pages, reading about Victoria's first visit to his office. Her first glimpse of Lily. Her first conversation with the daughter she'd lost. She likes dinosaurs. She drew me a picture of a T-Rex.
It's hanging in my office now, right next to the quarterly earnings reports. The board thinks I've lost my mind. Maybe I have. But when Lily handed me that drawing and said, "This is for you, Miss Victoria." I felt something I haven't felt in 15 years. I felt like a mother.
"Daniel," he looked up. Rachel was watching him with concern. "There's more," she said gently. "Keep reading the last few entries." Daniel turned to the final pages. The handwriting was shakier here, less controlled.
"I've been having chest pains. Nothing serious, probably just stress. But it scares me. What if something happens before I can tell Daniel the truth? What if I die and Lily never knows who I am?
I called Rachel tonight, told her everything. Asked her to give Daniel my journal if anything happens to me. She cried. I cried. We talked about mom and dad, how they ruined everything, how different our lives might have been if they just let me keep my baby.
Rachel asked if I was going to tell Daniel soon. I said, "Yes, tomorrow. I'm going to tell him tomorrow." The next entry was the last. Friday night, 11 p.m. I finally asked him, "Is your bed big enough for two?" He looked at me like I'd grown a second head. And for a moment, I thought I'd ruined everything.
But then he said the most beautiful thing anyone has ever said to me, "Only if you're the one beside me." I wanted to tell him right then. I wanted to say, "I'm Lily's mother and I love you both, and please let me be part of your family, but I couldn't. Not in the office. Not like that." So, I asked him to meet me tomorrow, Riverside Park. I'm going to tell him everything.
I'm scared. I'm so scared. But I'm hopeful, too. For the first time in 15 years, I'm hopeful. If anything happens to me, if I don't get the chance to say it myself, I need Daniel to know I love him.
I love Lily, and I'm sorry for all the years I missed. I'm sorry I was too afraid, too. The entry ended there, unfinished, just like the letter. Daniel closed the journal and set it on the table. His hands were steady, but inside he was falling apart.