And through the doorway, I saw my daughter.
She was sitting in the first nurse’s lap, holding the little pink cardigan between her fingers.
The moment Sophie saw me, she smiled.
That smile is something I will carry with me for the rest of my life.
She reached both arms toward me.
“Mama.”
I picked her up and held her so tightly that she protested with a little sound.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered into her hair. “I’m so sorry. Mommy got scared.”
A few moments later, Daniel entered the room.
He stopped several feet away from us.
Sophie looked at him and immediately reached one hand toward him too.
“Dada.”
Daniel covered his mouth.
Then he came over, wrapped both arms around us, and the three of us cried together.
The paperwork was stopped that afternoon.
