would come to Eugene the following weekend.
We would arrange a paternity test quietly.
We would find a family counselor experienced with introducing an absent parent to young children.
We would move slowly.
That last part was Cassandra’s requirement.
It was also the hardest.
I wanted photographs.
Birth certificates.
Medical records.
I wanted a bedroom ready for them in Portland.
I wanted college accounts.
Emergency contacts.
Legal rights.
Everything measurable.
Cassandra kept saying the same thing.
“They need to know you before they need what you can provide.”
So I
