Chapter 25 - I apologize for the wedding

I waited too long to say it properly.
Emily had insisted on attending.
True.
Ryan had just slapped Lily.
True.
The lie needed exposure.
True.
Still:
I had brought a neurologically vulnerable woman to a crowded wedding for a confrontation instead of waiting four days for an emergency hearing.
One evening I told Emily:
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“The wedding.”
She frowned.
“I wanted to go.”
“I drove you.”
“You tried to talk me out of it.”
“Not very hard.”
She smiled slightly.
“You’ve never been good at stopping me.”
“This isn’t funny.”
“No.”
Then she said:
“I’m glad I saw Lily.”
“I know.”
“I’m also glad she never has to experience that kind of reveal again.”
There.
Both.
I apologized to Lily too.
“At the wedding, I told you Mommy was alive in front of a room full of people. You deserved to learn something that big somewhere safe.”
She was nine then.
“Would I believe you?”
“I don’t know.”
“Daddy would stop.”
“Probably.”
She thought.
“Wedding was crazy.”
“Yes.”
“Mommy came.”
“Yes.”
“Still crazy.”
May you like
Fair.
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