My mother. For a moment, the restaurant disappeared around me. The glass walls, the muted music, the children\u2019s voices\u2014all of it receded beneath the sound of my own heartbeat. I turned the page over. There was nothing else. No second letter. No explanation. Only Elena\u2019s handwriting and my mother\u2019s name. \u201cYou gave this to my mother?\u201d I asked. Elena\u2019s face had lost what little color remained in it. \u201cI gave it to someone who said she could reach you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mother?\u201d \u201cI didn\u2019t know whether she would.\u201d \u201cBut you trusted her?\u201d \u201cI trusted that she understood what it meant to be shut out of your family.\u201d Elena\u2019s eyes moved toward the boys. Luca was trying to teach Thomas how to fold a napkin into a triangle. Marco had begun arranging the crayons by color. Adrian was watching us with the quiet attention of a child who noticed more than adults expected. \u201cWhy didn\u2019t you tell me she had it?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I thought she had given it to you.\u201d My mouth went dry. \u201cYou thought I knew?\u201d \u201cI thought you had made a decision anyway.\u201d The letter trembled slightly between my fingers. I looked down at the first paragraph again. *I tried to tell you. I came to your office, but they told me you had already chosen your future.* Discover more families<\/p>\n
family
\nFamily Law
\nThe memory returned with painful clarity\u2014not as a complete scene, but as fragments.<\/p>\n
My office six years earlier.<\/p>\n
A stack of contracts on my desk.<\/p>\n
My assistant telling me someone had come by while I was in a meeting.<\/p>\n
A message saying Elena had stopped by, but had left without waiting.<\/p>\n
I had assumed she was angry.<\/p>\n
I had assumed she no longer wanted to speak to me.<\/p>\n
What I had not remembered was asking who had spoken to her.<\/p>\n
At the time, my life had been consumed by a dispute over one of our property developments. My grandfather had placed me in charge of negotiations, and I had been working eighteen-hour days. People came and went from my office constantly. Employees, lawyers, family members.<\/p>\n
Anyone could have answered the door.<\/p>\n
Anyone could have told Elena I was unavailable.<\/p>\n
My gaze lifted to hers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat exactly did you write in the rest of this letter?\u201d<\/p>\n
Her expression tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou read it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI read the first few lines. Then I saw the name.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou saw enough.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, Elena. I saw that you tried to tell me. I saw that my mother had the letter. I need to know what else you wrote.\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked toward the boys again.<\/p>\n
The question was not whether she wanted to answer. It was whether she could do so in front of them.<\/p>\n
I understood.<\/p>\n
I turned to Luca. \u201cWould you like to see the fish in the lobby?\u201d<\/p>\n
His eyes brightened. \u201cThere are fish?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSmall ones. Near the entrance.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCan we?\u201d<\/p>\n
I caught the manager\u2019s attention and asked him to have someone sit with the boys at the nearby lounge. Elena hesitated.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ll be ten feet away,\u201d I said. \u201cThe manager knows me, and the hostess will stay with them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll go with them,\u201d Elena replied.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not trying to separate you from them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked at the boys. \u201cStay where I can see you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will,\u201d Luca promised.<\/p>\n
The four of them gathered their crayons and moved toward the lobby with the hostess. Thomas glanced back once. I gave him a small wave, and he returned it.<\/p>\n
When they were out of earshot, Elena folded her hands again.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wrote that I was pregnant,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
I forced myself not to look away.<\/p>\n
\u201cI told you there were four babies. I told you the doctors were concerned because of the pregnancy. I told you I didn\u2019t expect anything from you except honesty.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were pregnant with quadruplets, and you came to my office alone?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t know what else to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou should have called me directly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, Dominic. You don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her voice remained quiet, but her restraint had begun to fray.<\/p>\n
\u201cI called your private number three times. The first time, no one answered. The second time, a man told me you were in a meeting. The third time, I spoke to your assistant. She said you were unavailable and that I should stop making things difficult for you.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy assistant was named Rachel.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t remember her name.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe would never have said that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe not. But someone did.\u201d<\/p>\n
Discover more
\nBaby & Pet Names
\nDictionaries & Encyclopedias
\nFamily
\nI looked through the glass toward my sons. Luca had pressed his hands against the aquarium, while Marco pointed excitedly at a silver fish. Elena watched them from her chair, her body angled toward the lobby as if she could reach them in an instant.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened after you gave the letter to my mother?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe came to the hospital.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe day after the boys were born.\u201d<\/p>\n
The words struck with such force that I had to brace one hand against the table.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mother visited you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy didn\u2019t she tell me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did she say?\u201d<\/p>\n
Elena\u2019s gaze dropped to the letter.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe said she knew about us. She said she was sorry things had become complicated.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cComplicated?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe didn\u2019t know about the babies until then.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you tell her?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI did. I had no reason to hide it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat else?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe asked if I wanted to leave Boston.\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt cold despite the warmth of the room.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe said the Moretti family could be difficult to escape once they decided something belonged to them.\u201d<\/p>\n
My jaw tightened. \u201cDid she threaten you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid she threaten to take the boys?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen what did she mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe said she had seen what happened to people who became connected to your family without understanding the cost. She offered to pay for a place somewhere else.\u201d<\/p>\n
I glanced at the canvas bag beneath her chair, at the worn edges of the folders inside it.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid she give you money?\u201d<\/p>\n
Elena was silent for too long.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow much?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEnough to get through the first year.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy didn\u2019t you tell me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I believed you had chosen not to know.\u201d<\/p>\n
I closed my eyes.<\/p>\n
My mother had not simply possessed the letter. She had found Elena in a hospital room with four newborn children and decided, for reasons I still did not understand, that distance was safer than truth.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid she ever contact you again?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAbout six months later.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did she say?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat you were engaged to Sloane.\u201d<\/p>\n
I opened my eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wasn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe said the families had made an announcement.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was no announcement.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was a notice in the newspaper. It said the Moretti and Barrett families were considering a union.\u201d<\/p>\n
I remembered it. A business article about a merger between two investment groups. The reporter had written that the alliance would likely extend beyond business.<\/p>\n
At the time, I had been furious at the speculation.<\/p>\n
I had told my grandfather that Sloane and I were not a couple.<\/p>\n
He had replied that I was young enough to confuse reluctance with principle.<\/p>\n
I had never thought the article might have reached Elena.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe told you I was going to marry Sloane?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe said you had made your choice.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you believe her?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI believed what I had already seen. You leaving Cape Cod. Your silence. The calls that never reached you. The article.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou could have confronted me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI had four babies and no sleep. I was afraid all the time. I didn\u2019t know whether you wanted us, or whether you would see us as an obligation your family had arranged for you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her words silenced me.<\/p>\n
Because she had never been afraid of my money or my name. She had been afraid of being accepted for the wrong reasons.<\/p>\n
And I had given her every reason to doubt me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would have wanted you,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
She looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know that now.\u201d<\/p>\n
The answer carried no comfort.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know you loved me. I also know love didn\u2019t make you brave.\u201d<\/p>\n
That was the truth I had avoided for six years.<\/p>\n
I had loved Elena deeply. But when love required me to challenge my family, I had retreated behind duty and called it maturity.<\/p>\n
I looked at the letter again.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does the last part say?\u201d<\/p>\n
Elena\u2019s lips pressed together.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt says that I gave birth to four boys who deserved to know their father, even if their father didn\u2019t want to know them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI would never have said I didn\u2019t want them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou didn\u2019t say anything.\u201d<\/p>\n
The pain in her voice was soft, not dramatic. That made it impossible to defend myself against.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wrote that I would raise them without asking you for money or your name. I wrote that if you ever wanted the truth, you could find us through my sister.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour sister?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe lived in Providence then. She helped me after the boys were born.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy didn\u2019t you leave a way for me to reach you directly?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI did. My mother had my address. My sister had my number.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd my mother never passed them on.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know what she did.\u201d<\/p>\n
The uncertainty mattered.<\/p>\n
I could not turn suspicion into accusation simply because I was angry. My mother deserved a chance to explain herself. So did Elena. So did the years between us.<\/p>\n
The boys returned carrying four paper cups of lemonade. Luca climbed into the chair beside Elena, while the others resumed their places.<\/p>\n
\u201cDad,\u201d he said, testing the word carefully, \u201cthe fish don\u2019t blink.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFish do blink,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, they don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSome fish have a protective membrane.\u201d<\/p>\n
He stared at me. \u201cWhat\u2019s a membrane?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA clear covering over the eye.\u201d<\/p>\n
He considered this. \u201cSo they blink without blinking?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cExactly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Luca looked impressed.<\/p>\n
Marco leaned across the table. \u201cDo you know everything?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAbsolutely not.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMom says grown-ups should say that more often.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elena gave him a look. \u201cI say adults should admit when they don\u2019t know something.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the same thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot quite.\u201d<\/p>\n
Their exchange was ordinary and affectionate. I watched Elena adjust the straw in Thomas\u2019s cup, then wipe a drop of lemonade from his chin with a napkin.<\/p>\n
I had missed all of it.<\/p>\n
The first day they learned to walk. Their first words. Their fears at night. Their favorite meals. The differences in their personalities.<\/p>\n
Six years of small moments had happened without me.<\/p>\n
I could not recover those years. But perhaps I could stop losing the ones ahead.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to see you tomorrow,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
Elena\u2019s hand paused on Thomas\u2019s shoulder.<\/p>\n
\u201cTomorrow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m supposed to leave Boston in the morning.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen change your plans.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI can.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou cannot build a relationship in a day because you have suddenly discovered you\u2019re their father.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know it will take time. I know they won\u2019t trust me just because I share their blood. I know you have every reason to be cautious.\u201d<\/p>\n
The boys were listening now, though they pretended not to.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not asking you to forgive me tonight,\u201d I continued. \u201cI\u2019m asking for the opportunity to earn a place in their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elena studied me for a long moment.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd what happens when your family objects?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI handle it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is not an answer.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the only one I have.\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked down at the ring hidden in my jacket.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat about Sloane?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI told you. There will be no engagement.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd your grandfather?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019ll be disappointed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour mother?\u201d<\/p>\n
I glanced at the name on the letter.<\/p>\n
\u201cI need to speak to her.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elena nodded faintly.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen speak to her before you make promises to us.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was a reasonable condition.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will.\u201d<\/p>\n
I took out my phone and called my mother.<\/p>\n
She answered on the second ring.<\/p>\n
\u201cDominic?\u201d<\/p>\n
Her voice sounded warm, familiar, unchanged. I pictured her in the drawing room of our Beacon Hill house, probably still wearing the pale blue dress she had chosen for the conservatory dinner.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere are you?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
There was a slight pause.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt home. Your grandfather is here.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Elena Vale ever give you a letter for me?\u201d<\/p>\n
The silence that followed was different from the first.<\/p>\n
Not confusion.<\/p>\n
Recognition.<\/p>\n
Elena\u2019s head lifted.<\/p>\n
My mother exhaled quietly.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere did you find that name?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe letter.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another pause.<\/p>\n
\u201cDominic, you should come home.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not coming home until you answer me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot over the phone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you know Elena was pregnant?\u201d<\/p>\n
The boys had gone still. Elena reached for Luca\u2019s hand beneath the table.<\/p>\n
My mother\u2019s voice lowered.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
The admission seemed to pass through the phone and settle in the space between us.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you know she had four children?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stood so quickly the chair moved backward.<\/p>\n
Elena watched me, but she did not interrupt.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you know they were mine?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew they were your children.\u201d<\/p>\n
My hand tightened around the phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow long?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew before they were born.\u201d<\/p>\n
The restaurant lights seemed suddenly too bright.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy didn\u2019t you tell me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause your grandfather told me not to.\u201d<\/p>\n
I could not speak.<\/p>\n
My mother continued, her voice breaking slightly. \u201cHe said Elena was trying to force your hand. He said if you knew about the babies, you would abandon your responsibilities out of guilt.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe came to you in the hospital.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you took the letter.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou told her I was marrying Sloane.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI told her the family expected you to.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is not what she said.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI never told her you loved Sloane.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou let her believe I had chosen another woman.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI believed you had chosen your family.\u201d<\/p>\n
The words were so quiet they almost disappeared.<\/p>\n
I looked toward Elena.<\/p>\n
She had heard enough from my expression to understand.<\/p>\n
My mother went on. \u201cYour grandfather had already begun arranging the Barrett alliance. He said Elena would become a vulnerability. He said the children would be used to control you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were my children.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I was afraid.\u201d<\/p>\n
My anger faltered.<\/p>\n
My mother had always been composed. Even when my father died, she had held herself together until everyone left the room. She had taught me that fear was something to manage privately.<\/p>\n
Now I heard it in her voice.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat were you afraid of?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour grandfather. The people around him. The life you were being prepared to inherit.\u201d She took a breath. \u201cI thought if Elena left, you might eventually escape too. I thought distance would protect all of you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou separated me from my sons.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you have any idea what you took from us?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d she whispered. \u201cI know only that I was wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n
The boys were staring at me. I forced my voice to remain steady.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere is the rest of the letter?\u201d<\/p>\n
My mother was silent again.<\/p>\n
\u201cMom.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour grandfather has it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The answer struck deeper than anything else.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe has the original?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. I kept a copy. The original was placed in his files.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause he demanded proof that Elena had withdrawn from your life. He wanted to know whether there was anything that could bring you back to her.\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt sick.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere is the copy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn my desk.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIs there anything else?\u201d<\/p>\n
My mother\u2019s breathing changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI found a note attached to the letter when Elena gave it to me. I never understood why she wrote it, but I kept it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat note?\u201d<\/p>\n
My mother\u2019s voice dropped to a whisper.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt said that the boys\u2019 birth certificates had been altered.\u201d<\/p>\n
Across the table, Elena closed her eyes.<\/p>\n
I looked at her.<\/p>\n
She opened them slowly.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d I asked my mother.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d she said. \u201cBut the names on the original hospital records were not the names Elena gave them.\u201d<\/p>\n
The room seemed to tilt.<\/p>\n
My sons sat only a few feet away, safe and unaware, their faces turned toward me.<\/p>\n
My mother continued, \u201cDominic, you need to come home. There is something in your grandfather\u2019s files that you must see before you make any decision.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at Elena.<\/p>\n
For six years, she had carried the truth alone.<\/p>\n
Now another piece of it had surfaced\u2014one that reached beyond our failed love and into the first days of our sons\u2019 lives.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do the records say?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
My mother hesitated.<\/p>\n
Then she gave me the answer.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey say only three boys were born.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey say only three boys were born.\u201d<\/p>\n
For several seconds, I could not understand what my mother was saying.<\/p>\n
I looked across the table.<\/p>\n
Four boys.<\/p>\n
Luca.<\/p>\n
Marco.<\/p>\n
Adrian.<\/p>\n
Thomas.<\/p>\n
Four faces carrying pieces of mine.<\/p>\n
Four children Elena had raised, protected, fed, comforted, and loved for six years.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you mean three?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
My mother\u2019s voice trembled through the phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe hospital record in your grandfather\u2019s file lists three live births.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elena stood.<\/p>\n
Her chair scraped softly against the floor.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s impossible.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at her.<\/p>\n
She was pale now.<\/p>\n
Not guilty.<\/p>\n
Terrified.<\/p>\n
\u201cElena?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI gave birth to four boys.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d Her voice cracked for the first time that night. \u201cDominic, I held all four of them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas looked up from his lemonade.<\/p>\n
\u201cMom?\u201d<\/p>\n
Elena forced herself to smile.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m okay, sweetheart.\u201d<\/p>\n
She wasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
Neither was I.<\/p>\n
I turned away from the table.<\/p>\n
\u201cMom, I\u2019m coming home.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDominic\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd Grandfather had better still be there.\u201d<\/p>\n
I ended the call.<\/p>\n
Elena stared at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re not taking the boys into that house.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not.\u201d<\/p>\n
That answer came easily.<\/p>\n
Six years earlier, I might have demanded trust simply because I was a Moretti.<\/p>\n
Tonight, I understood that trust was something I had not earned.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou stay with them,\u201d I said. \u201cI\u2019ll go alone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her expression shifted.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are you going to do?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFind out what was done to our sons.\u201d<\/p>\n
For the first time, she did not correct me when I said our.<\/p>\n
My mother. For a moment, the restaurant disappeared around me. The glass walls, the muted music, the children\u2019s voices\u2014all of it receded beneath the sound of my own heartbeat. I … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3333,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,21,22,1,5,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aita","category-daily-article","category-reddit-stories","category-story","category-story-daily","category-viral-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6370","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6370"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nextstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6370\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6373,"href":"https:\/\/nextstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6370\/revisions\/6373"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}