Chapter 14
Margaret stayed away for three months.
Then Emma surprised me.
“She can come.”
I stared at her.
“You sure?”
“No.”
Good answer.
“What changed?”
Emma looked toward our son sleeping in the bassinet.
“I don’t want fear making every decision either.”
That sounded like her.
The visit happened in our house.
Daytime.
Linda present.
Antonio outside.
No performance of trust that did not exist.
Margaret entered without jewelry.
I noticed.
She looked older.
The moment she saw the baby, she began crying.
Emma did not move toward her.
Neither did I.
Margaret stopped several feet away.
“May I?”
Emma answered.
“No.”
My mother flinched.
Then nodded.
Good.
The old Margaret would have argued blood.
This one remained still.
She looked at Emma.
“I’m sorry.”
Emma waited.
“For what?”
Margaret’s face tightened.
Important question.
Apologies become meaningless when they remain vague enough for the speaker to escape themselves.
“For trying to make Adrian doubt you.”
Emma kept waiting.
“For opening the bracelet.”
More.
“For putting pigment on him.”
Margaret cried harder.
“For trying to take him to the estate.”
Emma finally nodded.
“And?”
Margaret looked confused.
Linda spoke quietly.
“For treating her like she was temporary.”
Margaret looked at Emma.
That was the deepest one.
“I’m sorry.”
Emma’s eyes filled.
“I don’t forgive you.”
My mother nodded.
“I know.”
That surprised all of us.
Then our son woke.
Made a small sound.
Margaret instinctively stepped forward.
Stopped herself.
Looked at Emma.
Emma watched her.
After several seconds, she said:
“You can look.”
Not hold.
Not touch.
Look.
Margaret approached the bassinet slowly.
She stared at her grandson.
No pigment.
No family blanket.
No performance.
May you like
Just a baby.
For the first time, I wondered whether she finally saw him that way too.
