Return to sender.
Some never returned at all.
Nobody knew whether Elena had read them.
Their father kept every one.
He never threw anything away.
Even the drawings.
Especially the drawings.
Fifteen years passed.
Then Chloe got engaged.
And three months before the wedding, Elena contacted her.
The message was simple.
I heard you’re getting married.
I would like to come.
Chloe stared at it for almost an hour.
Then she called her father.
He answered on the second ring.
“Everything okay?”
“Mom wants to come.”
There was a long silence.
Finally, he said:
“What do you want?”
That was always how he answered difficult questions.
Not what should happen.
Not what he wanted.
What do you want?
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t have to decide tonight.”
“What would you do?”
He exhaled.
“It isn’t my wedding.”
“Dad.”
“I mean it.”
She heard him sit down.
“If you want her there, invite her.”
“And you?”
“I’ll be fine.”
“You always say that.”
He laughed softly.
“That’s because I usually am.”
Chloe knew better.
Still, she invited Elena.
Partly because some small piece of the six-year-old girl inside her still wanted to see whether her mother could walk through a door and stay.
Elena replied immediately.
Thank you. You won’t regret it.
Chloe hoped that was true.
The wedding day arrived.
Her sisters came early.
Maya, now fifteen years older than the baby who had been left behind, helped with flowers.
The oldest sister cried before anyone else did.
Their father stood outside the bridal room wearing a suit that looked slightly too formal for him.
When Chloe stepped out in her dress, he froze.
Then covered his mouth.
“Dad?”
“You look like your mother.”
The room went still.
He immediately shook his head.