Ten years after I adopted my late girlfriend’s daughter, she stopped me while I was preparing Thanksgiving dinner, shaking like she’d seen a ghost. Then she whispered the words that cracked the world under my feet: “Dad… I’m going to my real father. He promised me something.”

Ten years ago, I made a promise to a dying woman, and, frankly, it’s the thing that’s mattered most in my life.

Her name was Laura, and we fell for each other fast. She had a little girl, Grace, who had a shy laugh that melted me into a puddle.

Grace’s bio dad had vanished the second he heard the word “pregnant.” No calls, no child support, not even a lame email asking for a photo.

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