She starts to rise, but before she can stand, I ask, “My mom wants to know about Christmas.”
Her shoulders stiffen. “What about it?”
“The kids,” I say, lowering my voice when Agnes’s little body starts to sag against me, sleep taking her fast. “How do we do this?”
“What do you suggest?” she asks cautiously.
I shift Agnes to my other shoulder. Lore was working on Thanksgiving so we had the kids while they celebrated the next day. “I was thinking… you, Genesis, and the kids come here. We all celebrate together. Like we used to.”
Lore’s jaw tightens. “Patrick… it’s not the same. Your mother hates me. Your sister too. And honestly? Mine hates them. She’s forgiven you, but them… no.”
I bite my upper lip. “My mom apologized.”
Lore lifts her brows. “When? Because ‘I’m sorry you left my son’ is not an apology.”
“Look, she was hurt, okay? Can’t you just let it go?” I say it softer, mostly because Agnes is finally drifting off.
Lore’s teeth clench. “So, nothing’s changed. I’m supposed to compromise again.”
I blink, genuinely confused. “When has this happened before? You and my mom always got along.”
She lets out a humorless breath. “Because I always bent, Patrick. Your mother wanted Thanksgiving at our house, I took the day off and cooked. She wanted us to stay with them for Christmas, I agreed. Every holiday, every plan, I adjusted. But this…” She shakes her head. “This is different. You and I aren’t together anymore. And she made it very clear I’m no longer her family.”
My brows shoot up. “When did she say that?”
“On Milo’s birthday,” Lore says, voice flat. “Your mom went out of her way to let me know I shouldn’t expect a present from her on mine, since I clearly didn’t wanna be a part of her family.”
A cold weight settles in my stomach. “I had no idea.”
She gives a small shrug. Clearly me not knowing didn’t make it hurt any less.
My mom had made those little comments back when I first brought Lore home, how she was glad there were no grandparents on Lore’s side, how at least we wouldn’t have to split holidays. I’d been horrified, but she never said any of it in front of Lore, and Dad shut her down fast.
After that, she never crossed that line again. And for a long time, things were good. Really good.
When Milo was born, they came around constantly.
Lore never complained, if anything, she was happier than I was to see them. She made space for them.
But she’s right. Things aren’t the same now.
And a lot is changing because of it.
Chapter Twenty
Lorelie
So, it’sus.
Patrick and I are sitting side by side in Dr. Nina’s office at Orange Cove, and she’s just told us that Milo is acting out because of… well,us.More specifically, because of our separation.
She folds her hands in her lap and clears her throat gently. “It’s not just the separation itself,” she says. “You mentioned you two went through a rough patch, got back together, and then eventually split.”
Patrick and I both nod.
“Children pick up on small things,” she continues. “Even things you think you’ve hidden. I’m guessing Milo assumed the same thing would happen again, that the two of you would work things out a second time. When that didn’t happen, he started expressing his disappointment the only way he knows how, by acting out.”
My stomach twists. “But we were careful. He didn’t know.”
