Chapter 2: Not That

Nobody says that casually when you have raised them alone.

I wiped my hands on a dish towel and tried to make my voice lighter than I felt.

“If you got someone pregnant, I need ten seconds to become the kind of mother who handles that well. I’m too young to be a Glam-ma.”

That earned the smallest breath of a laugh.

“Not that, Mom.”

“Okay,” I said, pulling out a chair. “Not great, but definitely better.”

I sat at the kitchen table.

Leo stayed standing for another moment, then lowered himself into the chair across from me.

A few days earlier, I had watched him graduate in a navy cap and gown while crying hard enough to embarrass us both.

At my own graduation, I had walked across the football field with a diploma in one hand and baby Leo balanced on my hip.

My mother, Lucy, cried through the whole ceremony.

My father, Ted, looked like he was ready to hunt somebody down. Continue Reading ⬇️