At 2 A.M., a Hidden

my family.”

No one asked again.

Three weeks after my mother left, a package arrived.

No return address.

Inside was a silver baby rattle engraved with Noah’s initials and a note in my mother’s handwriting.

A boy should know his grandmother.

Ava found it first.

When I walked into the kitchen, she was standing over the box as if it contained a snake.

I did not continue reading …