Fifteen Years After My Divorce, I Found My Ex-Mother-in-Law Digging Through a Dumpster

I made up the guest room for Dorothy and pulled out the air mattress for Eli.

He fell asleep almost instantly, like his body had been waiting for permission to rest.

The next morning, we spoke over coffee.

Dorothy sat at my kitchen table like she was afraid to get too comfortable. As we spoke, I discovered something shocking.

She wasn’t Eli’s legal guardian.

“I’ll be honest with you, Dorothy.

Even if Caleb does come back, it probably won’t do Eli any good. You’ve raised him. You’re the only parent he knows.

We need to make it official.”

At the courthouse, Dorothy’s voice shook when she explained everything to the clerk.

“He left the child with me, and never came back.”

The clerk nodded. “That happens more than you’d think.”

I squeezed Dorothy’s hand under the counter. She squeezed back.

Weeks passed.

Eli went to school.

Dorothy took it on herself to cook, slowly gaining confidence in my kitchen.

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