The hearing came in a cold month, and the whole world watched.
The courthouse was a cathedral of old stone and dark wood, and Makayla felt small in it, the way she had felt small in the gleaming hospital so many months ago. But this time she was not alone. Declan sat beside her, his hand locked around hers, and behind them sat Eleanor, and Luciana, and the whole weight of the family she had found.
The lawyers spoke of medical files and consent and the terrible mistake, and they made her miracle into a clinical case — a question of who had the better claim. All the while, Makayla sat with her hand on her belly, and she listened, and she did not once look away.
When it was her turn, she rose to the stand, her heart hammering. She looked out at the strangers who had come to judge whether s
