“The woman was simply leaving us alone with our future, the future she wouldn't be a part of. She didn't know how to do it or what it was, but she was trying to give it to us.”

“I allowed myself to believe she’d seen a future for us; that she wanted to be with me and simply thought it impossible.”

“And even if she could discern what future she wanted . . . How would she bear it if that future didn’t want her?”

“I got to give mom credit for how she handled it.She didn't try to pry and get all the details. All she said was that I should try to do "the right thing" because it's our choices that make us who we are. I figure that's pretty decent advice. But I'm still not 100% sure what I'm going to do tomorrow.”

“Just leave her alone. You're annoying her.' 'I'm not annoying her. She doesn't even know how to be annoyed. She's, what, a week old?''She's three months.''She's three months in our years, but what is she in baby years?”

“What the future held for her she didn't know. Of two things only she was certain. There would be children-her own or other people's-and there would be books.”