I couldn’t hear any of it.
I was staring at Catalina.
My mother.
The word felt impossible.
Mother.
A word I had spent my entire life imagining.
A word I never expected to say.
Catalina stepped closer.
“I never stopped looking.”
Tears streamed down her face.
“Every birthday.”
Another tear.
“Every Christmas.”
Another.
“I wondered if you were safe.”
My own tears finally came.
