Chapter 13 - The Birthday Nobody Was Invited To
Leo’s first birthday was small.
That was intentional.
Balloons.
Cake.
Daniel.
Robert.
Captain Ruiz and her husband.
Thomas and his wife.
A few friends.
No giant family reunion.
No obligation invitations.
No people invited because “what will everyone think?”
Leo wore a ridiculous blue hat.
He hated it.
Sophia loved it.
I took approximately four hundred photographs.
At noon, the doorbell rang.
I checked the camera.
Audrey.
Alone.
My stomach tightened.
Sophia came beside me.
“Did you invite her?”
“No.”
Audrey held no gift.
She simply stood there.
Then lifted a small envelope toward the camera.
I opened the door but stayed outside.
“I’m not asking to come in,” she said immediately.
“Then why are you here?”
“To give you this.”
It was another card.
“For Leo?”
“For you.”
I opened it later.
Inside:
I spent my whole life believing Mom’s approval was love. I hurt Sophia because I was jealous of something she had that I didn’t understand. She wasn’t stealing you from us. She was showing you what a healthy family looked like. I’m sorry. I know sorry isn’t enough. I’ll keep working until my actions mean more than the word.
I showed Sophia.
She read it slowly.
Then looked outside.
Audrey was gone.
“She’s changing,” Sophia said.
“Maybe.”
“You don’t trust it yet.”
“No.”
“You don’t have to.”
That evening, after everyone left, Leo fell asleep against my chest.
Sophia rested her head on my shoulder.
“Good birthday?”
“The best.”
“You said that about your thirty-first.”
“I lied.”
She elbowed me.
I laughed.
Then my phone buzzed.
A message from Audrey.
No pressure. I just wanted you to know Mom asked me to help her contact Sophia. I refused.
I showed Sophia.
She exhaled.
“That matters.”
It did.
Change wasn’t a speech.
May you like
It was what you did when the old temptation returned.
And Audrey had finally chosen differently.
