I knocked harder this time.
“Nineteen years ago, did you adopt a baby boy from the hospital placement program?”
Behind her, the young man appeared in the hallway. He had a dish towel thrown over his shoulder. He looked between his mother and us.
“What’s going on?” he asked.
Carl looked at him.
“When is your birthday?” he asked.
The boy answered. It was the same day Daniel came into the world.
The young man appeared in the hallway.
An older man appeared then. He looked at his wife, at us, at the expressions on everyone’s faces, and let out a heavy sigh.
“We always knew this day might come,” he said.
They invited us inside and told us everything.
Tyler had spent months in neonatal care before coming home. The hospital had arranged the adoption. They were told that the biological parents believed the baby was unlikely to survive.
Tyler listened to all of it without speaking. Then he looked at me.
They told us everything.
“So I had a brother?” he said.
My voice trembled. “Yes.”
“What happened to him?”
“He died when he was nine. Car accident.”
“Oh.” Tyler lowered his head.
He was quiet for a moment.
“What happened to him?”