She had arrived at Mercy wearing a blue winter coat and carrying a canvas bag containing baby clothes, a paperback novel, and two small knitted hats.
She knew she was expecting twins.
She had already chosen names.
The girl leaned forward.
“What names?”
The nurse hesitated.
“I don’t know if your parents want—”
“I want.”
Her adoptive mother nodded.
The nurse gave them the names.
Neither child used those names now.
The girl repeated hers quietly.
It sounded like somebody else.
The boy did not repeat his.
“Did she want us?”
The nurse looked at him.
“Yes.”
His jaw tightened.
“How do you know?”
“Because she was terrified you would be separated.”
Silence.
The nurse described the hours before the fire.
Their mother had lost too much blood.
She knew something was wrong.
She repeatedly asked whether both babies were breathing.
The nurse brought them close together once.
Only once.
The mother touched both heads.
“She sang.”
The girl froze.
“What?”
The nurse stared at her.
“A lullaby.”
The girl’s eyes widened.
The boy’s face changed.
The foster father looked between them.
“The song.”
The nurse nodded.
“I heard you playing downstairs.”
She started crying again.
“That’s how I knew before I saw the blankets.”
The girl whispered, “What was the rest?”
The nurse looked toward the boy.
“He already knows it.”
Everyone turned.
The boy stared.
“No.”
The nurse asked, “Who sang it to you?”
He looked uncomfortable.
“I don’t know.”
“Think.”
He stared at the table.
Then memory came.
Not a face.
A woman.
Not foster mother.
Earlier.
A temporary neonatal caregiver?
No.
He shook his head.
“I remember someone singing when I was little.”
“How little?”
“I don’t know.”
The foster father said gently, “Could’ve been anybody.”
The nurse nodded.
“Yes.”
The boy looked at the girl.
“Play it.”
“What?”
“The song.”
“There’s no piano.”
“Hum.”
The girl hesitated.
Then started.
Twelve notes.
The boy waited.
Then added four.
The nurse covered her mouth.
“That’s it.”
The girl whispered, “What comes after?”
The nurse closed her eyes.
Then sang.
The complete melody unfolded.
It was simple.
No lyrics.
Only humming.