“The lawyer is downstairs, Mr. Whitmore,” Ruth said.

Daniel stood up and smoothed his trousers.

He reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a thick document.

“We do not need to wait,” Daniel said to me.

He laid the papers on my lap.

The heading read *Amended Declaration of Guardianship and Parental Rights*.

My hands shook as I turned the pages.

“I have updated the records,” Daniel said.

“If anything happens to me, they are yours. Legally. Formally.”

I looked at the signature lines.

Daniel’s name was already written in dark ink.

My name, Claire Bennett, was printed clearly beneath the empty line on the right.

“They are already mine in here,” I said, touching my chest.

“I know,” Daniel said. “But the world needs to know it too.”

He handed me a heavy black fountain pen.

I pressed the tip to the paper.

The ink bled slightly into the heavy paper.

I signed my name.

Ruth stepped forward and took the document, her eyes softening as she looked at my signature.

“I will take this down to the notary,” Ruth said.