“I made it hard for him.”
“Mom.”
“Yes,” I whispered. “Sometimes I stopped him.”
Iris pressed both hands to her chest. “Why would you do that to me?”
“Because every time he missed a visit, I was the one holding you while you cried.”
“That doesn’t answer me.”
“Sometimes I stopped him.”
“When he married Gina, I lost it,” I said. “I imagined you watching him be a family with someone else. Like… Ryan. I thought it would break you.”
Ryan stepped forward. “I didn’t take her father away. He married my mother.”
“I know.”
Iris looked at him, then back at me. “So you let me think I was unwanted.”
“No. I told you every day that you were loved.”
“I thought it would break you.”
“By you,” she said. “Not by him.”
I reached for her. “Iris, please.”
She moved back. “Don’t touch me!”
“I thought I was protecting you.”
“No,” she said. “You were protecting the version of the story where you were the only one who stayed.”
I opened my mouth, but nothing came out.
“Don’t touch me!”
For once, my daughter had explained me better than I could explain myself.
“Call Anthony.”
“It’s after midnight.”
“You had twelve years,” she said. “I get tonight.”
Ryan pulled out his phone. “I can call my mom.”
Iris wiped her face. “Do it. Please.”
“I can call my mom.”
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