Chapter 16 - GRACE’S VIDEO
Emily flew to New York.
We watched Grace’s video in my living room.
Sophie sat between us.
Allison was not there.
This belonged to Grace and her daughter.
On screen, Grace looked healthy.
Alive.
She smiled.
“Hi, bug.”
Sophie gasped.
“Mommy.”
I almost broke.
Grace continued.
“If you are seeing this, then I am not there for something important, and I hate that.”
Sophie leaned closer.
“I need you to know something.”
Grace touched her chest.
“Love does not get used up.”
Sophie’s eyes filled.
“You can love Daddy. You can love me. You can love another woman who is kind to you someday.”
I covered my mouth.
“You do not have to choose.”
Emily began crying beside me.
Grace smiled into the camera.
“And nobody gets to tell you that remembering me is disloyal to them.”
Sophie whispered, “Okay.”
As if Grace could hear.
The video continued.
“I hope Daddy marries again if he wants to. I hope she is funny. I hope she likes pancakes. I hope she loves you without needing you to forget me first.”
That sentence destroyed me.
After the video ended, Sophie asked to watch it again.
We did.
Then again.
The third time, she paused it.
“Daddy?”
“Yes?”
“Can Allison see this?”
I did not expect the question.
“Why?”
“Because she thinks Mommy hates her.”
I stared at my daughter.
Adults had built an entire war around imaginary competition.
Sophie wanted to end it with a video.
That evening, Allison came over.
She watched Grace say:
I hope she loves you without needing you to forget me first.
Allison cried so hard she could barely breathe.
“I’m sorry,” she told Sophie.
Not me.
Sophie.
“I was jealous of someone who wasn’t even here.”
Sophie looked at her.
“Mommy is here.”
Allison nodded through tears.
“In you.”
Sophie thought about that.
Then said, “And in Daddy.”
I turned away.
For the first time, Allison did not ask to be included.
She simply listened.
May you like
Then Nora called.
Caroline had disappeared.
