My heart squeezed. It was such a beautiful thing for him to say, but it also made me sad, too. I leaned my head on my dad’s shoulder and looked down at the paper with him.

He cleared his throat. “Anyway . . . your mom caught me staring one time too many and asked me what the heck I was doing. You know what I said?”

“What?”

“When two people are meant to be together, God makes it happen.”

I swallowed and tasted salt in my throat. “Oh, Dad . . .”

He folded the piece of paper in his hands and tucked it into my pocket. “Keep it. Share that wisdom with your child someday. Whether that turns out to be Birdie or some other lucky little kid.”

I couldn’t sleep that night. So I texted Sebastian and asked him if I could come by at almost eleven o’clock.

“Hey.” He opened the door before I even knocked.

“How did you know I was here?”

Sebastian smiled. “I was watching out the window for your Uber.”

“Oh. Okay.” I took off my coat and hung it on one of the hooks in the entranceway. “Sorry to come over so late.”

When I turned around, Sebastian immediately pulled me into a hug. “I’m glad you’re here.” He kissed the top of my head. “I’m just hoping the urgency I felt in your text wasn’t because you needed to come dump my ass and get it over with.”

I pulled back. “What? No. Why would you think that?”

He let out a ragged breath. “I haven’t heard from you much over the last couple of days. I thought maybe you came to your senses.”

I smiled sadly. “I’m sorry. I just needed some time to think.”

“Of course. Come on, do you want some tea or something?”

I shook my head. “No thanks.” We walked into the quiet living room. “Birdie’s sleeping, I’m assuming?”

“Yeah.” He held up his wrist where there was a friendship bracelet tied on. “She made me take her to get another kit, and then she interrogated me about whether Santa Claus was real while she taught me how to weave these things. I made one for you.”

I smiled. “You did?”

“Yeah, but don’t get too excited. I suck at it.”

I laughed. “Okay. Well, it’s the thought that counts.”

“Keep thinking that when you see how lumpy your new jewelry is.”

I nodded toward his bedroom. “Why don’t we go talk in private? Just in case she gets up.”

“Good idea.”

Sebastian led me into his room before sitting up against the headboard of his bed, and I settled in facing him, tucked between his open legs. I took his hands.

“So I’ve been doing a lot of thinking, and I don’t think we should open the envelope.”

He held my eyes. “You sure?”

I nodded. “I think at this point, it’s Birdie’s decision. When she finds out how she was conceived, she may or may not want to find out who her biological mother is. I’ve never wanted to know mine, because I have my family, and I just didn’t need anything else.” I shook my head. “Maybe my decision was born out of an allegiance to my parents. I’m not really sure. But it was my decision, and I think this is Birdie’s, not ours.”

Sebastian dragged a hand through his hair. “Okay. But do we give her that decision now?”

“Ultimately, I think that’s your choice as her father. You know her better than anyone. I feel like it would be better to wait until she’s older. But really, it’s your call.”

He went quiet for a long time before he spoke again. “What about you? Won’t it be difficult for you to not know if I put off telling her?”

“Sometimes a difficult thing is also the right thing to do.”

Over the next two hours, we debated all the pros and cons of telling her now or in the future. I shared my honest opinions, and Sebastian listened and told me all his fears. One thing was for sure—I didn’t envy him for having to make such a tough decision. The hardest questions are always the ones that don’t have a wrong or a right answer.

Eventually, he shook his head. “We’ll put the envelope in my safety-deposit box tomorrow. I don’t know when we should tell her, maybe when she’s eighteen . . . I’m not really sure. I guess we’ll figure out when the time is right when it’s time. At least I hope so.”

I smiled. “Yeah. I think we will know.”

“But I want to discuss something else. I hate to be morbid, but one thing the both of us have learned is that life changes in the blink of an eye. If something happens to me, and you’re her mother . . . she should be with you, Sadie. Right now, my will has custody going to Macie.”

“Oh wow. Okay. Yeah, I guess I hadn’t thought about that.”

“I think we should go to my lawyer and get a consult on how it should be handled.”

“That makes sense.”

We looked into each other’s eyes for a long time. “Well, I guess it’s settled, then,” I said.

Sebastian smiled. “I guess so.”

I took a deep breath in, and my shoulders relaxed for the first time in days. He cupped my cheeks.

“I don’t know if it’s fate or a series of crazy coincidences that brought us together. But whatever led me to you isn’t as important as what will keep you here. I love you with all my heart, Sadie.”

“I love you, too.”

He smiled. “Good. Now. Umdrehen.”

“Umdrehen?” My brows furrowed. “Roll over?”

Sebastian did some stealth move and I went from sitting up to flat on my back.

His eyes twinkled. “You know, deciding not to open that envelope until years from now works in my favor in another way.”

“Oh yeah? How’s that?”

“It’ll give you a reason to stick around and find out the answer.”

I smiled. “You mean another reason to stick around.”

He seemed genuinely confused. “What’s the first reason?”

“You. I never needed any other.”

CHAPTER 30

SADIE

Four weeks later

“Coffee?” Devin sashayed into my office and plopped down two rubber-banded stacks of mail onto my desk. Each had to be three inches thick. Even more letters than yesterday.

I looked down at the piles. “I think I need caffeine for this. Can you grab me my usual, a grande iced, sugar-free vanilla latte with soy milk?”

“Yup. One cup of no-fun coming up.”

I went into my desk drawer and pulled out my wallet. Devin held up her hand. “Nope. It’s my turn. I’ll be back in a bit. Put aside the nuttiest letters for me to read.”

I laughed. “Always.”

Two days ago, the magazine had run a snippet stating that the Holiday Wishes feature would be starting back up next week. I couldn’t believe how much mail I’d received in only forty-eight hours. One of our interns usually helped sort through the letters. She’d pull out the ones she found interesting for consideration, but I also liked to rummage through and open a few myself. Sometimes it was random, maybe the first few letters on the top of the pile, and other times I’d pick by the last name listed on the return address or an interesting place that the person lived. Even though the magazine was only distributed in print in the US, I’d always get some readers from across the globe. Yesterday I’d picked Janice Woodcock because, well, who wouldn’t be curious what else a woman with that last name could possibly need for Christmas? I also picked a person who lived in Bacon, Indiana. Because, well . . . bacon.