When I visited Angela’s house to check everything myself, the environment appeared warm and organized, the toys were neatly arranged, and Angela spoke with gentle patience that reassured me enough to enroll Hazel there.
At the beginning I was extremely nervous and opened the camera feed on my phone whenever I had a spare moment during work, yet over time the anxiety faded because I often saw Angela speaking kindly to the children while Hazel laughed and played comfortably beside them.
Hazel even seemed excited about going to daycare each morning, and on days when I had to work late Angela would sometimes feed her dinner without complaint, which made me feel grateful for the help.
Everything in our routine seemed perfectly normal until one afternoon while I was driving Hazel home and casually asked the same question I asked every day.
“Were you good at school today, sweetheart?”
“Yes,” Hazel answered cheerfully.
“Did you play with anyone today?”
“Yes,” she replied again before adding something unexpected, “There’s a girl there who looks just like me, Mommy.”
I laughed softly while keeping my eyes on the road and said, “What do you mean she looks like you?”