During that time, Robert continued gathering testimony.
The agency acknowledged that its historical records were incomplete.
It also acknowledged that some decisions had been made without adequate documentation of the children's wishes.
The committee eventually issued recommendations.
They included improved procedures for preserving sibling relationships, clearer communication with children during placements, better documentation of contact requests, and independent review when sibling contact was denied.
The recommendations did not change the past.
They did not restore Mason's childhood.
They did not bring Owen back.
But they established that the decisions surrounding the separation deserved scrutiny.
For Mason, that mattered.
For Hannah, it mattered even more.
She had spent years believing that Daniel's childhood memories were simply sad fragments of a difficult beginning.
Now she understood that some of those memories had been shaped by information withheld from him.
She also understood why he had kept looking.
One evening, she told Mason something she had never said before.
"I used to think Daniel's sadness came from losing his mother."
Mason nodded.
"That was part of it."
"But I think he spent his whole life wondering whether he had been wanted."
Mason looked at her.
"He was wanted."
"I know."
"By me."
She nodded.
"And by Thomas and Evelyn."
Mason smiled faintly.
"Yes."
Hannah looked toward the garden.
"I wish he had known that all at once."
Mason reached across the table.
"He knew eventually."
"Too late."
"Too late to meet."
Hannah looked at him.
Mason continued.
"Not too late to matter."
She smiled sadly.
"That's something Daniel would have said."
Mason nodded.
"I think he learned it from our mother."
The following spring, Hannah proposed something unusual.
She wanted to organize a small family gathering at the old apartment building.
The building had changed ownership several times.
The neighborhood had been renovated.
The grocery store where their mother used to shop had become a pharmacy.
The small playground where Mason and Owen had spent afternoons was now a parking lot.
But the building remained.
Hannah wanted Caleb and Mia to see where their father had grown up.
Mason agreed immediately.
They invited Evelyn.
They invited Thomas's sister, Margaret.
They invited several people who had known their mother.
They also invited members of the Iron Harbor Riders.
The gathering was not a memorial service.
It was a family reunion of sorts.
A way to connect the past with the present.
Mason arrived early.
He stood outside the building and looked at the windows.
The old apartment had been on the second floor.
He could still picture the curtains.
He could still remember the sound of their mother's footsteps.
He closed his eyes.
For a moment, he was fourteen again.
He could hear Owen running down the hallway.
"Mace!"
He opened his eyes.
Caleb was standing beside him.
"Are you okay?"
Mason smiled.
"Yes."
Caleb looked at the building.
"That's where Dad lived?"
"Yes."
"Where?"
Mason pointed.
"Second floor. The window on the left."
Caleb studied it.
"Did he sleep there?"
"Yes."
"Did you?"
"Yes."
"Together?"
"Sometimes."
Caleb looked up.
"What was he like?"
Mason smiled.
"Annoying."
Caleb laughed.
"Really?"
"Very."
Mason told him about the time Owen had hidden his school shoes.
He described the time his little brother had put a toy frog inside the sugar bowl.
He told him about the afternoon Owen had tried to cut his own hair.
Caleb laughed so hard that he had to sit on the low wall.
Mia arrived carrying Scout.
Hannah followed.
Evelyn came shortly afterward.
She stood beside Mason.
"Thomas would have liked this."
Mason looked at her.
"I think so."
She glanced toward the building.
"He used to say that families were built from ordinary days."
Mason nodded.
"Your husband was right."
They waited until everyone arrived.
Then Mason led the children toward the entrance.
The current residents had agreed to let them visit the old apartment for a short time.
The hallway had been repainted.
The stairs had been replaced.
The doors were different.
But when Mason reached the second floor, he stopped.
He recognized the floorboard near the landing.
It still creaked.
He smiled.
"That one hasn't changed."
Caleb stepped on it.
The board creaked.
Mia laughed.
"Again!"
Caleb jumped.
The board creaked louder.
Mason laughed.
For a moment, he could almost hear Owen laughing too.
They entered the apartment.
The rooms were smaller than Mason remembered.
The kitchen seemed impossibly tiny.
The living room had been divided differently.
The old window was still there.
Mason walked toward it.
He remembered his mother standing beside the sink.
He remembered the smell of soup.