For illustrative purposes only
The Wedding Morning
The morning of the wedding, Lily woke up before sunrise.
I found her sitting on the edge of her bed, already holding the dress in her lap.
“Is it time?” she whispered.
“Not yet,” I laughed softly. “The sun is barely awake.”
But she was too excited to go back to sleep.
I made pancakes shaped like little hearts, though two of them turned out more like clouds. Lily didn’t care. She ate them carefully so she wouldn’t spill syrup on her robe.
Then I curled her hair.
She sat very still in front of the bathroom mirror while I wrapped each small section around the curling iron. Her curls bounced around her cheeks like ribbons.
When I finished, she stared at herself.
“Mommy,” she whispered, “Daddy’s going to be proud?”
I rested my hands on her shoulders.
“Yes,” I said. “He should be very proud.”
Before Daniel’s mother, Carol, arrived to pick her up, I tucked a small handwritten note into Lily’s flower basket.
It read:
Daddy will always love you.
Maybe I wrote it for Lily.
Maybe I wrote it because I needed it to be true.
When Carol came to the door, she stopped in the entryway and pressed her hand over her heart.
“Oh, my sweet girl,” she said. “Look at you.”
Lily spun once, and the pink skirt floated around her.
Carol’s eyes shone. “You look like springtime.”
I had always loved Carol. Even after the divorce, she never treated me like I had disappeared from the family. She called on Lily’s birthdays. She sent soup when Lily had the flu. She never spoke badly about me, not once.
Before they left, Carol squeezed my hand.
“Thank you for letting her be part of today.”
I nodded.
“Just make sure she feels included,” I said quietly.
Carol’s smile faded a little, as if she understood more than I had said.
“I will,” she promised.
The Phone Call
I had just finished cleaning the pancake dishes when my phone rang.
It was Lily.
I smiled when I saw her name.
“Hi, princess,” I answered. “Are you ready?”
But there was no excited voice on the other end.
Only sobbing.
My whole body went cold.
“Lily? Baby, what happened?”
She cried so hard I could barely understand her.
“Mommy…”
“What is it?”
