Chapter 6 - The Family That Always Shows Up
Chloe’s voice dropped into panic.
“Where are we supposed to go?”
I looked at my parents.
Then at Derek.
Then back at my sister.
“Ask the family that always shows up for you.”
Her mouth opened.
Closed.
For once, Chloe had no performance ready.
Barbara began to cry.
Not the kind of crying that comes from grief.
The kind that comes from losing control of the room.
“Melissa, we made a mistake.”
“No,” I said. “A mistake is missing a call. A mistake is forgetting flowers. You chose a vacation after I told you Lucas died.”
My father finally spoke.
“You’re angry. We understand.”
“No, Dad. You don’t. Because if you understood, you would be ashamed before you were inconvenienced.”
His face tightened.
I saw then how much of my life had been built around preventing that expression.
Not anymore.
Chloe touched her stomach.
“You’re punishing a baby.”
I looked at her hand.
For one brief second, the old version of me wanted to soften.
Then I remembered Lucas’s baseball glove sitting untouched on his desk.
“No,” I said. “I’m refusing to let you use another child as a bill I’m supposed to pay.”
Derek cursed under his breath.
I looked at him.
“Careful. You are standing on my porch, asking for access to my property, after vacationing through my child’s funeral.”
He stepped back.
May you like
Good.
I was tired of teaching grown people shame.
