She ought to have guessed Sage would protest. And that was fair – her choice would rebound on them all too, as well as the printshop, as well as Sage’s hospital job (which she might keep, if she were lucky, but there was no guarantee). Tess remembered thinking about these possible consequences years before. All of these were reasons why it had been safest to give her up.
But if she was here, living with them for – well, forever... Tess wanted to trust that her sister knew what she was signing herself (and Maggie) up for, but she couldn’t shake the creeping feeling that it would go wrong. Someone would slip up, sooner or later. Sage wouldn’t be able to take it, having her daughter so nearby and having to pretend. She wasn’t even sure Sage was being honest with herself now, and not committing to lies just to spare the rest of them.
Tess’ jaw was tight: she was inclined to argue, but she swallowed it. “I know, but – once you pick the course, you know we’re stuck to it,” she warned – Sage, Mia, all of them would be. They would all have to commit to the charade. “But if you’re sure.” The only mercy of this was that Maggie was perhaps too young to remember much of her life up to now; and that the adoptive parents they had found did not live in Hogsmeade or London, and had lived a quiet, private life. There was no reason for anyone to recognise the girl. “Will she keep their last name, or take ours?” As she said it, Tess supposed christening her a Whitby in name might be safer than keeping any connection with her previous parents, who had not been biologically related to her at all. “If we said she’s – just an orphaned niece to us or a second cousin or something?”
But if she was here, living with them for – well, forever... Tess wanted to trust that her sister knew what she was signing herself (and Maggie) up for, but she couldn’t shake the creeping feeling that it would go wrong. Someone would slip up, sooner or later. Sage wouldn’t be able to take it, having her daughter so nearby and having to pretend. She wasn’t even sure Sage was being honest with herself now, and not committing to lies just to spare the rest of them.
Tess’ jaw was tight: she was inclined to argue, but she swallowed it. “I know, but – once you pick the course, you know we’re stuck to it,” she warned – Sage, Mia, all of them would be. They would all have to commit to the charade. “But if you’re sure.” The only mercy of this was that Maggie was perhaps too young to remember much of her life up to now; and that the adoptive parents they had found did not live in Hogsmeade or London, and had lived a quiet, private life. There was no reason for anyone to recognise the girl. “Will she keep their last name, or take ours?” As she said it, Tess supposed christening her a Whitby in name might be safer than keeping any connection with her previous parents, who had not been biologically related to her at all. “If we said she’s – just an orphaned niece to us or a second cousin or something?”
