He sat quietly for a long moment. “Sometimes I imagine paying off my loans. Helping you two. Doing something good with it. But every time I picture signing their name, it feels like I’m saying they’re my real parents and you’re… something else.”
Harold shook his head. “We are not going to resent you for accepting what’s yours. You didn’t ask to be abandoned. If you want that money, take it. We’ll still be your parents.”
Julian’s eyes glistened. “You pulled me inside when I was freezing to death. They left me out there. That’s the difference. And it’s not just about the money. It’s about claiming who I really am.”
He took a deep breath. “I’m going to tell Marianne to close the case. If there’s a way to give it to charity without their names attached, great. If not, I walk away.”
I whispered, “That’s a lot to walk away from.”
He smiled gently. “I already won. I got parents who wanted me.”
For illustrative purposes only
After dinner, Julian helped wash the dishes, like he always did. Then he picked up the box.
“I’ll keep this,” he said. “Figure out what needs to be done. But I won’t keep you in the dark anymore.”
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