“You think?”
“Definitely,” Sky said.
“Will you be her godmother?” Elo asked.
“Really?” Sky asked.
“Of course,” Elo said. “You’re family.”
“Yes,” Sky said. “A thousand times yes.”
Being a mom was harder than any court case Elo had ever worked. Sleepless nights. Constant feedings. Worry that lodged under her ribs and never quite went away.
But she loved every second.
When Maya was six months old, Elo went back to work part-time, focusing on policy projects she could do from home.
“See this, baby?” she said one afternoon as Maya sat in her lap banging happily on the keyboard while Elo tried to draft a proposal. “Mommy’s helping other kids, just like someone helped me once.”
Maya babbled and mashed keys.
“Okay, maybe you’re too young to understand,” Elo laughed.
At twenty-eight, Elo argued a case before her state’s supreme court, about whether minors could refuse harmful medical treatments.
“Children are not property,” she told the panel of nine judges. “They have voices. Those voices deserve to be heard.”
The court ruled in her favor, five to four. The decision set a precedent.