I stayed silent.
She sighed.
“We saw the news. Congratulations on your promotion.”
I almost laughed, the way she said it, as if she’d heard about a distant acquaintance’s good fortune.
“Thanks,” I said flatly.
There was a pause.
Then quietly, “You were right about a lot of things.”
That caught me off guard.
She continued, her voice trembling.
“We shouldn’t have treated you that way. I thought… I thought I was doing what was best. I didn’t realize how much it hurt you.”
I didn’t respond right away.
For a second, I almost softened.
Almost.
But then I remembered Christmas morning.
The laughter.
The dollar store toy.
Dad’s smirk when he said, “Be grateful he got anything.”
“Mom,” I said finally. “I appreciate you saying that, but I can’t go back to pretending everything’s fine.”
“I don’t expect you to,” she said quickly. “I just… I’d like to see you and Lucas. Maybe for dinner sometime. Just us.”
