On the day my ex husband married my younger sister, my nine year old daughter asked me a question I had no answer for, then left with her grandmother, gift bag in hand. Later that day, my cousin called to tell me Amelia had brought the family ceremony to a halt, and suddenly everyone was waiting on her.
On the morning Ryan got married, I was fastening the last button on the back of Amelia’s dress when she asked me a question I wasn’t ready for.
“Mom?”
Amelia had stopped the family ceremony, and suddenly everyone was waiting for her.
“Yeah, sweetheart?”
She was looking at her reflection in the mirror, but she wasn’t really looking at the dress.
“If Dad marries Aunt Lina, is she still Aunt Lina?”
“Of course, sweetheart.”
Amelia’s brow creased. “Even if she keeps saying she’ll be my bonus mom?”
I swallowed hard.
“If Dad marries Aunt Lina, is she still Aunt Lina?”
“She’s still your aunt.”
Amelia nodded slowly.
“And you’re still her sister?”
I had to look away.
I couldn’t answer that.
She sat with her own question for a few more seconds.
Then she picked up the little white gift bag Lina had sent over for her and said, “Okay.”
“And you’re still her sister?”
That single “okay” stayed with me even after my mother arrived.
Mom looked me over from head to toe. “You’re really staying home?”
“I already told you I was.”
Mom let out a loud sigh.
“Annie, this bitterness has gone on long enough. Lina is your sister.”
I met her eyes.
“Annie, this bitterness has gone on long enough. Lina is your sister.”
That was the part nobody in my family cared to remember.
Mom then said, “She deserves happiness too.”
Amelia stood near the door, watching the two of us.
I didn’t want another fight in front of her.
So all I said was, “Have a good time, baby.”
Amelia wrapped her arms around me.
“I love you, Mom.”
