“Promise me you’ll tell them I love them,” she asked.

“That I tried.

That I just wasn’t strong enough.

But that doesn’t mean they weren’t worth everything.

I promise.

Gabriel said, “And I’ll make sure they know who you are, where they came from.

They deserve that truth”.

The adoption was finalized on a December afternoon, almost 2 years to the day after Gabriel had found two children freezing in the park.

Tim, now nine, held Sarah, now two, as the judge declared them officially Gabriel Sterling’s children.

That evening, Gabriel sat in his living room, no longer immaculate and empty, but cluttered with toys and books and signs of life and watched.

Tim helped Sarah build a tower of blocks while Emma video called from California to say good night to her siblings.

His phone buzzed with messages from the office.

There was always work to do, always another deal to close, another meeting to

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