Laughter ripples through the table, easy and warm. I don’t know what I expected tonight, but I didn’t think it would be this.
Cameron and my mother lean forward, eager for information about me, but I don’t feel comfortable enough to open up quite yet, and I think everyone gets the hint.
My mother raises her glass, and the table quiets.
“To Magnolia,” she says, her voice thick with emotion. “To the daughter who has come home.”
Glasses lift, and a chorus of ‘To Magnolia’ follows.
I stare at the glass in my hand, at the family surrounding me, at the warmth in their eyes.
Being with Sin, I felt like I belonged for the first time in my life, but here… I feel more.
As the evening wears on, the conversation flows naturally, each word a small step towards bridging the gap between my past and my present. I realize that this is just the beginning. There’s a lot to learn, a lot to understand, but for now, I feel like I’m on the right path.
Maria’s voice breaks into my thoughts. “Magnolia, would you join me on the balcony?”
A chill whispers across my skin as I step onto the balcony, folding my arms for warmth as the chatter from the dining room fades as the doors close, leaving only a view of the sprawling city out of reach.
The soft click of heels against stone sound as my mother steps beside me, silent for a long moment, before she finally exhales.“It’s beautiful out here.”
I don’t look at her.“Is that why you came out here? To talk about the view?” I try to hide the resentment in my tone, while the stories around the table fill me with warmth that pools in my chest something else resides there too, hurt.
She’s quiet, and when I finally glance her way, I see it. The sorrow in her eyes, the weight of years pressing down on her.“No,”she admits.“I came because there’s so much I need to tell you. So much I should have told you years ago.”
I turn fully toward her.“Then tell me. No more secrets. I want to know why I was abandoned.”
She takes a small step back as if my words sting. “You were only two weeks old,”she begins softly, her voice barely above a whisper.“So small I could fit you in the crook of one arm. Your father used to just… sit there for hours, staring at you like you were the only thing in the world that made sense anymore.” Her voice wavers.“You and Cameron were our entire worlds.”
My chest tightens, my breath shallow. I’m about to find out the truth I’ve wanted for so long.
She looks past me, like she’s staring at something long gone.“Right before your father was murdered…”She swallows, voice breaking.“He called me.”
A sharp inhale drags through my lungs.“What did he say?”
“I didn’t get to the phone.” She cries, “I was feeding you, you were such a restless baby.” A laugh escapes her, but it sounds like pain. “He left me a voicemail.”
“I’m sorry you didn’t get to talk to him, because of me.”
She shakes her head, “Never apologize for me taking care of you, that is my job.”
A question we both know I’m going to ask slips out. “Do you still have it? The voicemail?”
She nods.
“Can I hear it?”
With a shake of her head, she frowns. “You don’t want too.”
“I do.”
Her manicured nails tap along the wrought iron railing, “He dies on that voicemail, Magnolia. You…” she looks me in the eyes, “You will hear your father die. Cameron has never heard it, and I won’t allow him too. But I will leave it up to you.”
She steps back, pulling a phone from her bag and places it in my palm. “I have it saved on this phone. I swore I would never let another living soul hear this, but you more than anyone deserve to have that choice.”
The gravity of what’s in my hand doesn’t escape me. The first time I hear my father’s voice will also be his last words. “Can I have some time alone? To think, to decide?” I don’t know.
The back of her hand touches my faces gently, swiping across my cheek, wiping away a tear I didn’t notice had fallen. “Of course, my darling.”
