Chapter 7: Liam’s Sentence

I called Liam, but John stopped me before I could turn the phone into another courtroom… Continue Reading ⬇️

“Don’t call him like you’re putting him on trial,” he said.

So I breathed until I could speak like a mother instead of a judge.

“Come home,” I told Liam.

He arrived after dark. When he saw the letters on the living room floor, his backpack slipped from his shoulder.

“You knew she was alive?” I asked.

“Yes.”

“You let me bury her every day.”

His face changed. “No, Mom. You kept digging the grave because it was easier than asking why she left.”

I raised my voice. “I am your mother.”

“And she is my twin.”

Then he said the sentence that finally broke me open.

“Rose isn’t a prize you lost. She’s a baby Livia was scared to bring near you.”

John stood in the doorway and whispered, “Sometimes you don’t give people room to be themselves.”

I wanted to defend myself.

Instead, I asked, “Tell me how not to scare her.” Continue Reading ⬇️