When Aki was born, this slithery little alien, I saw the look of utter panic on his face and started to cry. The feeling that I’d made a terrible mistake was instantaneous—not because I didn’t want him, but exactly the opposite. In that insane maternal way, I loved him so much, so quickly, that I didn’t know what to do. It was immediately, blindingly obvious that there was nowhere near enough time in all my life and in all the world to give both him and his sister everything they needed and that I wanted to give them. The whole task was far beyond anything I was capable of, and the only
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