Nobody spoke.
Then Amelia leaned forward.
"So that's what your voice sounds like."
Her voice became rougher near the final page.
Katherine's lower lip moved once.
She pressed two fingers against it, but the first sob escaped anyway.
Greta did not comfort her.
Neither did I.
Some pain shouldn't be hurried simply because it's hard to watch.
Greta did not comfort her.
After a while, Greta asked, "Did you think about us on our birthdays?"
Katherine wiped beneath one eye.
"Yes."
"Every birthday?"
A pause.
"No."
Greta nodded slowly, accepting the truth instead of the answer she wanted.
"Did you think about us on our birthdays?"
Amelia looked at the taped spine.
"Did you keep pictures of us?"
"At first," Katherine said.
"How many?"
"Three."
"Why only three?"
"Did you keep pictures of us?"
Katherine looked down at the book.
"Because seeing them made it harder to pretend I hadn't done something terrible."
