Adoption
My legs felt heavy. Now I understood why Lucy hated running. But I couldn't quit. I had to get to the finish line, and running would get me there faster.
Where were Stephanie and Emma? Probably at the finish. I pulled the corner of my shirt up to mop my face, and when I was done, I realized I was alone. Where was everyone else? Was I lost? Was I last?
Martha's eyes widened. Dad looked right back at her, calm as calm. Mom was in bed when she should have been helping Martha get ready for school. Mom, who had never let her be alone with her birth mother for one minute in her whole entire life (not even when Martha was being born), was suddenly sending her off on her own and not even coming downstairs to tell her about it. And no one was asking Martha what she wanted. They obviously didn't care. Neither of them.
