I swipe to answer.
Their faces appear immediately, both framed in the kind of lighting that suggests they had a staff member arrange the call.
My father begins before the greeting even finishes. “Lenzin.”
I lean back in the chair behind Hildy’s desk. “Yes.”
“We’ve been made aware,” my mother says carefully, “that the woman has apparently managed to become pregnant.”
There it is, the way she says, woman. Not Hildy, not the person I love.
“And,” my father continues, “we’ve also been informed that she’s been… digging into family history.”
My grandmother’s history. Secrets that had been buried long before I was born.
“Information,” my mother adds, “that even we were unaware of.”
I fold my hands on the desk. “You’re going to watch how you speak about the woman I love.” They aren’t used to that tone. “And before either of you decides she’s done something wrong,” I continue evenly, “you might ask yourselves whyGrossmutterdidn’t trust you with that information in the first place.”
My father stiffens slightly. “That’s not?—”
“You have always had more money than perspective,” I say quietly. “You spend like the world is permanent and uncomplicated.”
My mother’s lips press together.
“And yes,” I add, “so have I, but the difference is, I also make every penny I spend.”
Before the conversation can tighten any further, the office door creaks open and Lucy wanders in like a small storm cloud, climbs straight into my lap before either of my parents can react.
Her face appears suddenly in front of the camera. “Oh, hi.”
My parents simply blink.
Lucy beams. “Hi, I’m Lucy.” She pats my chest proudly. “And this is my Daddy.”
I don’t look away from the screen, just hold their gaze and give them a clear warning.
Be very careful.
Behind Lucy, Hildy rushes into the room. “Lucy, remember the office is for business and?—”
Lucy cuts her off cheerfully, and I’m suddenly grateful she can’t see the expressions flashing across my parents’ faces, the tight, brittle kind of almost anger they’re not used to holding back.
“But Daddy does business on the couch and on the ice.”
“She didn’t do a thing wrong,” I kiss her cheek as Hildy scoops her up.
She smiles as she scoops her up off my lap, “And sometimes he has to have adult conversations.”
Lucy giggles, “He didn’t even tell me that.”
As soon as the door shuts and my father leans in close to the monitor, the lighting becomes natural and shows his age.
“This,” he says carefully, “is precisely the sort of complication we were concerned about.”
I lean back slightly in Hildy’s chair. “Which part?”
My mother answers first. “The part where family matters that were intentionally buried are suddenly being… investigated.”
