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Part 3 Daniel opened the front door wearing the navy sweater I had bought him during his last imaginary Christmas. Vanessa stood behind him, pale and stiff. Margaret sat at the dining table with...

PART 1 Three weeks after I gave birth to triplets, my mother-in-law arrived at our house carrying an enormous present wrapped in shiny silver paper. For one hopeful second, I thought Patricia had actually...

PART 2 Patricia’s mouth fell open, but Daniel didn’t immediately explain. Instead, he looked toward the full-length mirror. My reflection was still there: exhausted face, messy hair, maternity clothes, one hand unconsciously gripping my...

PART 3 One of the babies started crying. Patricia instinctively stepped forward, then stopped herself. Instead of simply taking the baby, she looked at me. “Penny?” “Yes?” “Would you like me to hold her?”...

PART 1 “Mommy… Daddy is right there.” My four-year-old daughter’s words stopped me beside the pool. I followed Mia’s gaze toward Harold, my boss and my late husband’s closest friend, but I had no...

PART 2 Mike had gotten the compass tattoo when he was nineteen. It came from a road trip he had taken with Harold. According to Mike, the two of them had planned to get...

PART 3 Harold finally looked at me. “Somewhere along the way, this stopped being only about Mike.” I stayed silent. “At first, I was helping because he was my best friend. Because I thought...

The pool Steve built for our four children was the last gift he ever gave us. So when my neighbor stormed into my yard, called my kids “too loud,” and later filled that pool...

That night, after putting the children to bed, I stayed alone at the kitchen table. I thought about Steve. And I promised myself tomorrow would be different. The following afternoon, the kids swam again....