To spare him the torture of having his mother meddle in his personal life any longer, I shift the subject to what brought me here in the first place. “You know your father will be here tomorrow, don’t you?”
Alicia eventually decided she wanted to celebrate at home—just a small gathering with a few close friends from her new school. Sophia, her best friend, the one she’s stayed close to even after changing schools and houses, will be coming too.
It’ll be a simple afternoon: pizzas, laughter, and colorful mocktails by the pool. All I had to do was call her favoritepizzeriaand the bakery we always choose to order her Peaches and Cream Layer Cake—her favorite.
Mark offered to set up a little bar by the grill, claiming he’d be reliving his college days as a bartender mixing mocktails for the kids.
Colin asked to talk yesterday when he dropped Alicia off after taking her to the movies with her friends. Once again, he didn’t want to come inside, so we talked on the porch.
He told me Alicia had invited him and asked if it was all right for him to come on Sunday. I was caught off guard. Alicia hadn’t mentioned a word, and her birthday was only two days away. So I was honest with him. It’s her party. He’s her father. If she wanted him here, of course he could come.
Then he surprised me again. He offered to arrive early and help with whatever needed to be done. Colin has never been the hands-on type; he’s always preferred to pay someone to take care of things. “My work uses my brain, not my hands,”he used to say.
I told him it wasn’t necessary, Alicia didn’t want decorations or anything fancy, just something simple. But he insisted. And for Alicia, for Ethan... I agreed. Maybe it would do them both good to see their father making an effort, even a small one.
“I know,” Ethan says now, his jaw tight. “I just don’t understand why Alicia had to invite him.”
“Because it’s her birthday, and she wants her father here with her on her day.”
He lets out a bitter scoff. “Father.A real father wouldn’t have done what he did to our family.”
I want to agree, because the man I once believed him to be would never have done those things. But I can’t. Not if I truly want to move forward. Not if I want to stop letting old wounds decide the shape of the present.
“I understand how you feel. And I won’t tell you or your sister how to feel. Just please don’t do that to her, either.”
“Yeah. I know.” His voice hardens, his gaze shifting toward the bookshelf behind me. “I just... don’t want to see him.”
“You should talk to Alan about that,” I suggest carefully. “Maybe even talk to your father during one of your sessions whenever you’re ready. Alan could help you—”
“Mom, no.” He shakes his head, his tone hard. “I don’t want to talk to him. Ever again.”
I exhale. “Ever is a long time, sweetheart. You’re only seventeen.”
He looks at me then, and the hurt in his eyes makes my chest ache. “Please don’t ask me that, Mom. I love you, and there’snothingI wouldn’t do for you. But don’t ask me to do that.”
I get up and perch on the edge of his desk.
“I willneverforce you to talk to your father, Ethan. You and Alicia are the most important people in my life. And I’d never ask you to compromise your own feelings.”
I rest my hand on his shoulder.
“I’m not saying this for your father’s sake—I’m saying it for yours. I’m worried about you. Keeping all that pain and anger locked inside will only turn into bitterness. And hurt people always end up hurting others.”
Ethan looks up at me with a sad smile. “I know, Mom.”
“Take the time you need. And if you ever need help, you know you can always come to me. And you have Alan too.”
I bend down to kiss his forehead. “Just don’t let those feelings eat you alive.”
I give his shoulder one last squeeze before walking out the door, letting him sit with his thoughts.
“What’s that?” Mark asks.
“My parents sent it to Alicia. It just arrived,” I answer, my gaze fixed on the pink gift box with its deep rose ribbon, and I can’t help the way my mind goes back toanotherbox.
Mark rests his elbows on the other side of the island, watching. “They’re still in Florida?”
I nod. My mother texted me a few weeks after I last saw them in February, saying they’d spend a month down there. My father reached out last month. I declined the call and replied with a single message:Nothing’s changed.
