Chapter 14 - THE FIRST WEDDING MIA ATTENDED AFTER VANESSA
Two years later, Ethan’s sister got married.
Small ceremony.
Outdoor garden.
Mia was seven.
She refused to be flower girl.
Nobody pushed.
She wore blue.
Halfway through dinner, I saw her crawling beneath a table.
My body reacted before my brain.
I was out of my chair immediately.
Then Mia crawled back out holding a dropped bracelet.
She saw my face.
“Mom?”
“I’m fine.”
“You thought—”
“Yes.”
She hugged me.
Then ran back to her cousins.
Trauma sometimes arrives as ridiculous reflex.
You live anyway.
Ethan came over.
“You okay?”
“Yes.”
He looked toward the table.
“I thought it too.”
We stood there.
Not married.
Not enemies.
Just two parents permanently connected by the worst wedding either of us had attended.
Then Mia shouted:
“Dad!”
Ethan turned instantly.
Not irritated.
Not tired.
Instantly.
She wanted cake.
That was all.
May you like
He helped.
Sometimes change looks embarrassingly ordinary.
