I have a little sister now. Unlike the other newborns I’ve seen–wrinkled, red–faced, and frankly a bit ugly–she’s actually cute. The prettiest baby I’ve ever laid eyes on.

That’s what Max wrote in his journal on the day Alessia was born.

“What’s her name?” he asked, leaning over the crib, wiggling his finger in front of the swaddled infant.

“Your dad said she was born at night, so he picked Alessia,” someone replied.

Max snorted. “That’s a pretty half–hearted name,” he muttered under his breath.

Yvonne Sullivan was discharged from the hospital in less than three days, and during that time, Scott only dropped by out of obligation—a quick visit, a glance, and that was it. He didn’t spare Alessia a second look. After checking in on Yvonne’s condition, he made his excuses about work and left in a hurry..

Once back home, Yvonne didn’t linger on motherly duties. Not even a week into her recovery, she was already trailing after Scott from meeting to meeting, hustling for business.

So in that cramped, rundown apartment, there was just a little boy, not yet old enough for grade school, and a newborn who could do nothing but gurgle and wail.

It wasn’t as if Scott and Yvonne had entirely forgotten about their children. At least they left some cash with the neighbor–a woman who’d just had a baby herself–to look in on the kids from time to time.

07:45

time, It was just the two of them

Marian knocked on the door, holding

daughter, a high school

who brought Max his meals.

send Marian over with food for

Max greeted

sometimes became the target of the neighborhood kids‘ mischief. He was tough, though–he fought back every time, and

not to mess with him. Still, the neighbors looked at Max with a mix

came home scraped up, and on weekends, she’d help him with his reading

was always polite to Marian, never taking her for

you a lot more,” Marian

coming back to grab a bite before disappearing again.

kids, he spent most of his time tucked away in a little used bookstore on the next street. It was a shabby

he’d barely visited the store.

2/3

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