I shook my head. “Not today, Iz.”
Izzy scowled and crossed her arms over her chest. “You’re kidding, right?”
I could feel the tightness in my shoulders and neck getting worse. “It’s a family day,” I said.
“That’s such bullshit,” Izzy snapped.
“Isabelle,” Mark reprimanded. “Language.” He flashed a look at Olivia.
“It’s okay,” Olivia said. “Izzy saysshitandbullshitall the time.”
“Olivia!” Mark said. He glared at our older daughter. “Now do you get the no-swearing rule? Just listen to your sister!”
Izzy ignored him, locking eyes with me. “If I was still with Noah, you’d let me see him. You’d have probably invited him to come and decorate the tree and eat with us.”
I shook my head. “This is not about who you’re dating. It’s about it being just family today and tonight.”
“Theoisfamily,” Izzy snarled. “She just doesn’t meet your picture-perfect Christmas family vision.”
“Come on, Izzy,” I said. “You know—”
“What I know is that it’s the truth.Moxie Saves Christmasdoesn’t have even one queer person in it, does it? It’s all moms and dads with sweet little rosy-cheeked kids.”
“You’re being unreasonable,” I said.
“And you’re being homophobic!”
“Really?” I said, scrubbing a hand over my face. My eyes burned from exhaustion. “Let’s not go there, Izzy.” She knew that wasn’t true. She was just trying to pick a fight.
“What’s homophobic?” Olivia asked.
I blew out a loud breath, trying to take a few seconds to get myself together. Now was not the time to go head-to-head with my stubborn sixteen-year-old daughter.
Izzy was so much like me at that age. She was fierce and strong-willed, and lately she seemed to think the whole world was against her—I remembered the feeling well. Still, it hurt to feel her pulling away. I’d once been her best friend and ally; now I was just part of the system she hated and was rebelling against. It seemed that lately I couldn’t do anything right in her eyes. She hadn’t even acknowledged that I’d just been away overnight. I didn’t expect a flying leap into my arms like her sister had done, but aHow was your trip? or even aHi, Momwould’ve been nice.
And it hadn’t escaped me that neither of them had asked how their grandmother was.
“That has nothing to do with it!” Mark said, exasperated by Izzy’s accusation. He was excellent at working with the kids at his school, but Izzy knew exactly how to push his buttons. Sometimes it seemed like a game she was playing, trying to see how quickly she could get her patient, mild-mannered father to lose it.
Olivia reached for a cookie, and Mark swatted her hand away, snapping, “Not until they’re decorated.” Izzy had gotten to him.
Olivia looked like she might cry. I grabbed a cookie, a gingerbread mouse, and handed it to her. “A mouse for my mouse,” I said with a smile.
Mark opened his mouth, but I flashed him a look; he snapped it closed and nodded at me.
“Sorry, Liv,” he said.
“Do I still get to go to ballet today?” Olivia asked worriedly. “Even though it’s a special family day? We’re rehearsing the night scene after the party. When Clara goes to sleep and the mice and rats come out.”
“Of course,” I said. “It’s at six. We’ll have our family meeting, decorate, feed you an early dinner, and get you over to the studio in plenty of time.”
“Moxie should be at the meeting,” Olivia said, reaching down andpetting Moxie, letting her lick the crumbs off her hand. “She’s part of the family.”
“Absolutely,” I agreed.
“I’m going to my room,” Izzy announced, stepping into the entryway to grab her backpack.
“Izzy, wait, please,” I said. “Let’s just sit and talk. It’s important.”
