“What?”
“You say sorry every time we come here.”
“I know.”
“We get it.”
“So make pancakes.”
Her pancakes were terrible.
The boys ate them anyway.
Later she told me:
“I was cruel.”
“Yes.”
“I believed Adrian because he was my son.”
“Yes.”
“I should have asked to see the ultrasound.”
“Yes.”
“I should have told his father.”
“Yes.”
She almost smiled.
“You have no intention of making this easier.”
“No.”
Then I added:
“You don’t need punishment from me.”
“You need truth.”
“That’s different.”
We never became close.
We became respectful.
Enough.
Vanessa and Adrian postponed their wedding for almost eighteen months.
During that time she met the boys gradually.
Never demanded affection.
Never tried to become another mother.
Never acted threatened by me.
Miles liked her first.
Probably because she asked nothing of him.
