Early in the morning, Mrs. Clark paced back and forth near the nurse's station, waiting for the results.

She had hardly slept a wink last night. It's not like she hadn't suspected or secretly tested other girls of similar age before, but back then, she knew the hope was slim, and she didn't wait anxiously for the hospital's results. Almost always, it took a day or two for the hospital to inform her that the results were negative, and she didn't feel much disappointment.

After all these years of searching, that intense hope and longing had slowly been worn away over the past twenty years. It had turned into a...