Oops! Ang larawang ito ay hindi sumusunod sa aming mga alituntunin sa nilalaman. Upang magpatuloy sa pag-publish, subukan itong alisin o mag-upload ng bago.
p r o l o g u e
─────
nineteen ninety-two.
AN INFANT BABY GIRL laid in the safety of her crib, her tiny fists curled up into balls and her bare feet gently kicking the loosely knitted yellow blanket gathered over her legs. Her wide, dark brown eyes were fixated on the mobile of colorful birds above her, an amused smile playing on her small, pink lips.
Her mother, Dianne, sat on the couch nearby, her eyes glued on reruns of Prime Suspect playing on the television. Blue knitting needles were held in her hands as she worked the yellow yarn into a beanie for her daughter; it seemed to be her favorite color, after all.
Dianne glanced at her work before immediately gasping, ceasing her actions.
"Oh, bollocks," she said. She had paid too much attention to the television to realize that she had made the beanie tremendously large for an infant.
Dianne looked over to the crib, spotting her daughter's eyes through the wooden bars.
"You'll wear it when you're older, won't you?" Dianne asked. The baby squawked and Dianne smiled, returning her blue-eyed gaze to her work. Being an inexperienced knitter, the stitches were relatively loose, dotting the unfinished garment with holes. Dianne sighed.
Before Dianne could get the chance to fix it, three swift knocks sounded on the door. Dianne sighed once more at the prospect of standing from her oasis on the couch: her feet resting on the stained coffee table beside a large glass of wine with the remote in reach. The knocks repeated as she paused her show.
"I'm coming!" Dianne shouted in annoyance as she stood from the couch, set her knitting on the table, and walked over to the door. She unlocked it before swinging it open.
A man dressed in a bespoke suit and square-framed glasses stood before her. As soon as she got a proper look at him, Dianne's mouth fell agape and she quickly tried to slam the door in his face, but he managed to stop it with his outstretched hand.
"What are you doing here?" Dianne harshly whispered as she gave up her attempts to push him away from her apartment doorway.
"Why didn't you tell me sooner that you had a baby?" the man replied, dropping his hand to his side once realizing that she wasn't going to fight him any further. Dianne's eyes widened.
"How'd you find out?"
"That's beside the point." Dianne narrowed her eyes ever so slightly. "May I come in?"
She pulled the door closer to her, lodging herself between it and the frame, as a way to shield his eyes from her daughter.
"No," she said firmly, drawing her shoulders back as a way to stand her ground. Thinking quickly, she added, "They're not yours, anyway."
