“They like it,” I whispered.
“They see you,” Lorraine said gently.
It had been a long time since anyone saw anything beyond what I could do for them.
Daniel arrived in Eugene on a gray afternoon, the kind of day that used to make me feel small.
But not anymore.
Lorraine opened the door before he knocked a second time.
“He’s here for you,” she murmured. “Do you want me to stay?”
“No,” I said. “I can speak for myself.”
Daniel stepped inside, and the sight of him startled me—unshaven, eyes red, shoulders pulled tight as if the weight of his own choices had finally settled.
“Mom,” he whispered, voice cracking. “Please. Please talk to me.”
I gestured to the couch. “Sit.”
He sank down, rubbing his hands together.
“I didn’t know you were this unhappy,” he said. “I thought things were functioning. Mara said you liked helping. The kids, Mom… they keep asking for you.”
“I know,” I said softly. “And I love them. But love does not erase what happened inside that house.”
He swallowed hard. “I am sorry for all of it. For not seeing what was happening. For letting Mara make decisions that pushed you aside. I should have protected you.”
“You should have,” I agreed, my voice calm. “But you did not. And I cannot return to a home where I’m treated like a piece of furniture that moves whenever someone else needs space.”
He leaned forward. “Let me fix it. Move back. We will change.”
I shook my head. “No. I am not coming back, Daniel.”
His breath caught. “Then what? What do we do?”
“You become the father you should have been,” I said. “You and Mara raise your children yourselves. You handle your own bills. You decide your own meals. And if you want a relationship with me, it will be on different terms.”
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