My Family Saved Their Adopted Daughter First, Then I Died Before Their Eyes novel · Chapter 9 of 24

Chapter 9: The Laundry Basket

The Ostrander lake house sat dark at the end of its drive, with my brother's truck parked crooked on the grass.

I found Brody on the dock with his shoes off and a bottle between his knees.

Eli had stopped his truck at the top of the lane. I had asked him to, and he had gone quiet and let me.

My brother heard my footsteps on the boards.

"Nell." He didn't turn around. "You shouldn't be here. Mom's at the hospital auxiliary dinner. She'll be home at ten."

"I'm not here for Mom."

I sat down next to him, a foot of dock between us.

"Tell me what the clinic was for."

He didn't answer.

"You went white at the school," I said. "You went white in my office. Tell me what you did."

He turned the bottle in his hands.

"I was twenty-five," he said. "It was three in the morning. Mom called me and said to bring Dad's SUV to the back door of the clinic and bring the big laundry basket from the mudroom."

My heart began to beat slowly and hard.

"I thought somebody had died. I thought it was a body."

"Brody."

"A nurse came out the back door and put a baby in the basket."

The water slapped at the pilings.

"She was in a yellow blanket," he said. "She was crying. She had a wristband on, and she weighed six pounds and three ounces, because the nurse told me. She told me twice."

I couldn't feel my hands.

← Chapter 8 · All chapters · Chapter 10 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend