"Good morning, sweetheart," Eleanor said, her voice warm and gentle as she placed a plate of freshly baked croissants in front of Sofia. "How was your first day of college?"
Sofia smiled, taking a bite of the flaky pastry. "It was good, Mom," she said, her voice filled with a newfound confidence. "It's a bit overwhelming, but I think I'll get the hang of it."
"It's a big adjustment, honey," Charles said, his gaze lingering on his daughter. "But you're strong, you're smart, you'll do just fine."
Sofia nodded, her heart filled with a sense of gratitude. She had been apprehensive about starting college in a new country, a world so different from the one she had left behind. But the Crawfords had been incredibly supportive, making sure she had everything she needed, from a comfortable dorm room to a car to get around. They had even hired a tutor to help her catch up on any missed coursework.
"You know," Eleanor said, her voice softening, "we're so glad you're here, Sofia. We've missed you so much."
Sofia looked up, her eyes meeting her mother's. She had been hesitant to believe their sincerity at first, their sudden appearance in her life, their overwhelming generosity. But as the days turned into weeks, she had come to realize that their love for her was genuine, that they had been searching for her for years, that they had been heartbroken by the accident that had separated them.
"I've missed you too, Mom," she said, her voice filled with emotion. "I've missed you both."
"We know," Charles said, his eyes twinkling. "And we're so happy to have you back in our lives."
Sofia felt a wave of warmth wash over her. She had been so focused on her own anxieties, on the guilt she felt for leaving her adoptive family, that she had almost forgotten the joy of being reunited with her biological parents.
"You know," Eleanor said, her voice a little softer, "we want to tell you about what happened, why you were separated from us when you were so young."
Sofia nodded, her heart pounding with a mixture of anticipation and apprehension. She had been told snippets of the story, but she had never heard the full account.
"It was an accident," Eleanor said, her voice filled with a hint of sadness. "Your grandmother, my mother, was driving you home from a picnic when she lost control of the car. She swerved to avoid a truck and crashed into a tree. She was seriously injured, and you were thrown from the car."
"I was only four years old," Sofia whispered, her mind racing back to the fragments of memories she had of that day. "I remember the picnic, the sunshine, the laughter. And then... the crash, the pain, the darkness."
"It was a terrible accident," Charles said, his voice filled with a deep sorrow. "Your grandmother never fully recovered. She passed away a few months later."
Sofia felt a wave of grief wash over her. She had never met her grandmother, but she felt a deep sense of loss, a connection to a woman she had never known.
"And you," Eleanor said, her voice filled with a hint of guilt, "you were lost. We searched for you for months, but we couldn't find you. We were devastated."
"We thought we had lost you forever," Charles said, his voice filled with a deep sadness. "We were heartbroken."
Sofia felt a surge of empathy for her parents, for the pain they had endured, for the loss they had suffered. She understood now why they had been so determined to find her, why they had been so overjoyed to reunite with her.