Читать книгу Cinderella's New York Christmas - Scarlet Wilson, Scarlet Wilson - Страница 9

Our dearest Leo,

You have no idea how much joy it gives us to write this letter. We have hoped and prayed for this moment for so long. We hope you are well, we hope you are healthy, and we want you to know that we’ve spent every day thinking about you, and the last thirty-five years looking for you. You have always been in our hearts, Leo, always. Please believe that.

Thirty-eight years ago we were young, foolish teenagers who fell in love. Our parents disapproved and when we fell pregnant with you we were forced to give you up for adoption.

We want you to know that it was never what we wanted. From the very first moment we knew you existed we wanted to keep you. But times were different then. Our parents bullied us, refused to support our relationship, and were ashamed of their illegitimate grandchild.

It broke our hearts, but we were penniless and had to agree to give you up for adoption, or we would have both been flung out of our homes.

Every day we talked about you and imagined where you were. We prayed you had parents who loved you as much as we did, and who nurtured and supported you.

Despite what our families thought, we stayed together and eventually married. As soon as we had some money we started our search for you. But the world was full of paper records then—people who kept secrets and those who told lies. It took years for us to learn you’d gone to the US, and then the trail went dead.

It broke our hearts all over again.

You have a brother, Sebastian, and a sister, Noemi. We always found it difficult to talk about your adoption to your siblings, but now that we’ve found you we would love it if our family could be reunited.

It has always been our dream that one day we could have all our children sitting around our table for Christmas dinner, like the true family we always wanted to be. We would love it if this could come true this year and wish that you could join us at Mont Coeur, Switzerland—the place where we have always loved to spend Christmas.

We’ve missed you every day, Leo.

Knowing that you are alive and well has brought us so much joy. We know you may be settled in your life. We know that you may well think of your adoptive parents as your only parents, and we will always respect your decisions and your wishes, but, please, please consider our request to meet.

There is nothing we want more than to throw our arms around our firstborn son and tell you how much we love you.

With our hearts,

Mamma e Papà

Salvo and Nicole Cattaneo