Chapter 8 – The Other Letter

Feb 17, 1976

My darling Son,

I hope that you are reading this letter when you are old enough to understand what I am going to say.

The first thing that I want to tell you is that I love you. I don't want to give you up for adoption but everyone keeps telling me that you will have a better life with two parents who can give you everything that you need and deserve. In the end I had to agree. I wish I could keep you but it is impossible. I am only seventeen and without any support our lives would be very difficult.

I also want to tell you about your father. He is seventee , like me, and is a really good person. The only reason he doesn't know about you is because I didn't tell him. His mom has just died and I didn't want to burden him with anything else. His name is Steve, just like yours, and he lives in a gorgeous house by the beach. He is also the star of the football team and he loves to surf.

Please don't think badly of us, my darling and remember that I love you and always will.

All my love,

Mom

Nick put the letter back into the folder and sat for a while, wondering what his parents were like now. As always, when he read the letter, he did the math and realised that they would be in their early forties now which meant, he hoped, that they were still alive. A soft noise from the doorway caused him to look up to see Jenny standing in the doorway, a gentle smile playing about her lips.

"I knew I'd find you here," she said.

"You did? How?" Nick asked.

"How?" Jenny echoed, "It's your birthday, Nick. You always read the letter on your birthday."

"Okay, okay," Nick grinned, "you got me. Most of the time I can forget that it's here but on my birthday it comes to the forefront of my mind."

Jenny perched herself on the edge of the desk and said, "Sweetheart, you know the old saying, everything comes to he who waits. I know that when the time is right you will find your parents."

She stood and held out her hand, "Come on, come back to bed."

Nick rose to his feet, took his wife's hand and followed her, switching the lamp off as he did so leaving the room in darkness.