Then came the photo album. Grandma O’Hara sat near the fireplace, surrounded by children and cocoa mugs, flipping through plastic pages. She narrated each photo with proud precision—birthdays, snowstorms, piano recitals. Everyone laughed. Until she paused on a photo of Lucas and Lucy, both four, standing side by side.
They were on a deck. Ocean behind them. A white metal railing. In Lucas’s hand: a toy dinosaur. He felt a strange jolt. “Where was this taken?” he asked. His grandmother peered closer. “Oh, that? That was right after you were brought home.” The room went oddly quiet. “Brought home?”