“Twenty years, Vanessa. You had time to explain.”
She reached for my arm.
I stepped back.
“Not one call. Not when they were sick. Not one question about whether they were alive.”
June, Ava, and Claire stood together on the stage, watching us.
Vanessa looked at me.
“Rick, I tried.”
Before I could answer, the microphone shrieked.
Every head turned.
June, Ava, and Claire stood together on the stage, watching us.
Applause started immediately.
June lifted her glass.
“We planned a toast for Dad.”
Applause started immediately.
I couldn’t move.
“He chose us every day,” she continued. “He made sure we never felt unwanted.”
Claire stepped forward holding a yellowed hospital envelope beneath her bouquet.
My throat closed.
Then Ava looked toward Vanessa.
“And we need to talk about our mother.”
The room quieted.
Claire stepped forward holding a yellowed hospital envelope beneath her bouquet.
Claire unfolded the paper.
“We found Vanessa three months ago,” she said. “What she told us changed something, but not everything.”
I stared at them.
June mouthed, “Trust us.”
Claire unfolded the paper.
“Dad, you need to hear this.”
Then she began reading.
I looked directly at Vanessa.
“Dear Rick, if you’re reading this, then maybe you finally know I tried to come back. I don’t expect you to forgive me.”
Claire stopped.
I looked directly at Vanessa.
She was crying silently now.
“What is this?”
“Leaving the hospital was exactly what it looked like.”
“A letter I wrote four months after the girls were born.”
Four months.
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