And every time I hear that laugh, I think of Leah. I think of the promise I made in that hospital room. Take care of my mother.
I tried. For three years, I tried. But the living child in front of me mattered more than the promise I made to the dying woman I loved. Leah would have understood. Because Leah was Ellie’s mother before she was Barbara’s daughter. And any mother worth the name would have chosen the child too.
Disclaimer: This story is a work of fiction created for entertainment purposes. Any resemblance to real persons, events, or places is coincidental.