Chapter 201: Chapter 201 Echoes of Loss
Author
Nancy stood at the entrance to the memorial garden, her palms slick with sweat.
It was a quiet stretch of green perched on a gentle hillside.
The lawn was meticulously trimmed, several oak trees scattered across the grounds, with benches, wind chimes, and small stone plaques bearing names nestled beneath their shade. There was none of the oppressive atmosphere of a traditional cemetery. It felt more like a place where someone might sit and lose themselves in thought.
She followed the number Frank had given her to find the tree.
A young maple. Its trunk was still slender, its branches swaying softly in the breeze. At the base of the trunk sat a palm-sized copper plaque engraved with a single line:
In Loving Memory — Born Sleeping, Always Loved
No name. No date. Just those words.
Nancy crouched down, her fingers tracing the edge of the plaque.
The metal had been polished smooth by rain and sunlight, a sign that someone had visited, maintained it, remembered. Her throat tightened. This was real. Her child had been here. Had been mourned.
She thought she would cry.
But as she knelt there, her eyes remained dry. Her heart felt like someone had wrapped a fist around it and was squeezing, beat by agonizing beat, but the tears wouldn’t come. She opened her mouth to speak, only to find her throat completely blocked.
She had never met him.
But he was her son.
She couldn’t even blame Frank or her parents. When they’d made these decisions, she’d been lying in a hospital bed, her mind a blank slate, unable to remember even who she was. They had chosen for her, buried her child for her, lived seven years in her place.
She had no right to blame anyone.
She could only blame herself for arriving too late.
"I’m sorry." Nancy finally managed to speak, her voice rough as sandpaper dragging across wood. "Mommy came too late."
Wind swept through the branches overhead. The wind chime near the plaque rang softly, a few delicate notes.
No one answered her.
Nancy stayed crouched there for a long time. Long enough for her legs to go numb. Long enough for the sun to shift from directly overhead to behind the treetops. An elderly couple came to the memorial garden and placed a bouquet beneath a neighboring tree before quietly departing. A young woman arrived holding a baby, sat on a bench to nurse, then left.
Nancy didn’t move.
Not until a worker in a moss-green apron approached, his tone gentle. "I’m sorry, we close at five-thirty. Do you need any help?"
"No." Nancy stood, her knee cracking audibly. "I’m leaving now."
She took two steps, then stopped.
She reached into her bag and pulled out something small—a palm-sized teddy bear she’d bought before coming, brown with a little blue vest. She’d stood in front of the gift shop for a long time before choosing it, her hands trembling the entire time.
She crouched back down and placed the bear against the maple’s roots, right beside the copper plaque.
"Baby," she whispered, "if anyone over there gives you trouble, you tell Mommy. Mommy will find a way to come over and beat them up for you."
Her heart felt like it was caving in. She pressed a hand to her chest, took a shaky breath, then pushed herself up on numb legs and turned to leave.
A pair of polished black leather shoes stopped her.
Sharply pressed dress pants. Nancy’s gaze traveled upward slowly, past the tailored jacket, past the familiar jaw, until her eyes landed on the man’s face flickering in the dim light.
And the small hand he was holding.
"Nancy." His voice was flat. Controlled. "What are you doing here?"
Her stomach dropped.
Yardley.
She opened her mouth, but nothing came out.
What was she supposed to say? I came to visit the grave of a child you didn’t know I had?
The words stuck in her throat like glass.
Before she could form a lie, the small hand tugged free from Yardley’s grip.
“Hey, Nancy! What a coincidence! Have you eaten yet? My dad’s treating!”
Nancy looked down at the round little face beaming up at her, and something in her chest clenched tight.
If her baby had lived, he’d be around Orion’s age.
Orion grabbed her hand without waiting for an answer.
Yardley’s voice cut in, sharp. “Orion. Manners.”
Nancy blinked back to reality. “No, he’s fine. Don’t scold him.”
Ever since she’d learned about her son, she couldn’t look at Orion the same way. He wasn’t hers—she knew that. But she couldn’t stop wondering.
Would my boy have been this lively? This happy?
“See? Nancy said don’t be mean!” Orion tugged her arm. “Let’s go eat! I’m paying!”
He waved his smartwatch proudly.
Nancy should’ve said no. Her head was a mess. She’d just ended things with Yardley. Being here with them felt wrong.
But she couldn’t make herself let go of that small hand.
“Okay,” she said softly. “But I’m treating.”
Orion’s eyes disappeared into happy crescents. “Deal! Ride with us!”
“I drove here.”
Yardley spoke for the first time. “Louis can take your car. I’ll drive you and Orion.”
Nancy nodded.
In the back seat, Orion was a nonstop show-and-tell. Report cards. Art projects. Photos he’d taken of sunrises. A certificate for student of the month.
"Look, Nancy! Straight A’s!"
"That’s amazing, Orion."
"My teacher says I’m the best. Like, five days a week."
Yardley snorted from the front. "Try three."
Orion’s face went red. "Okay, maybe three. But still!"
Nancy laughed despite herself. The sound surprised her.
At dinner, Orion did all the talking. He filled every silence, told every joke, showed every drawing. Nancy barely said two words to Yardley the entire night.
When she finally drove off, Orion watched her taillights disappear.
"Dad," he said quietly. "Did you get dumped?"
Louis coughed loudly.
Yardley looked down at his son, unimpressed.
“Because if she leaves, she becomes someone else’s mom.”
Orion’s face crumpled. “No way. Fix it.”
“I’m working on it.”
