Just my name.
Before I invited her inside, she stepped across the threshold.
Her expensive perfume drifted into a house that smelled like buttered popcorn, garlic from dinner, and the old quilt folded over the couch.
Then she saw the girls.
“Oh my goodness.”
Her face brightened.
“Look at you.”
Sophie stood beside Clara.
Lily remained near the couch.
Vanessa opened both arms.
Nobody stepped forward.
She laughed awkwardly.
“I know this must feel emotional.”
No one answered.
“But I can finally be your mother again.”
The entire room seemed to become smaller.
“I CAN FINALLY GIVE YOU A BETTER LIFE.”
Vanessa kept talking.
“I needed time.”
Her voice softened in the way people speak when they are already forgiving themselves.
“I was grieving.”
“After your father died, I couldn’t see any future.”
She looked at the girls.
“And I was still trying to raise three babies.”
Then she glanced at me.
