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“Here are your choices,” I tell her. “You can go finish dinner in your room, with the door closed, or I’m taking your phone away.”
Vi looks at Jenna.
“Don’t look at her. I’m the one paying the phone bill,” I say.
“This is bullshit.”
I keep my gaze locked with hers, hoping she’ll see that I’m dead serious.
“Vi, let me take care of this,” Jenna says. “It’ll be okay.”
Vi tosses her napkin on her plate and says, “I’m not hungry.” She gets up and leaves the kitchen, and I listen for her door to close.
“What are you doing?” I ask Jenna.
“Like I said, I’m in a good place now, and I want my kids.”
“In a good place? Meaning what, boyfriends?”
She frowns at my offhanded comment, but I can’t reign in my anger right now. “The kids are older now. We can have fun together. And they’re my kids, Allie.”
“Really? So where have you been the past seventeen years, then?”
“I wasn’t ready to be a mom.”
“And what, I was? You’ve always put yourself first, while I put them first.”
“What do you want me to say? I’m their mother, and I want them with me. They’ll love California.”
I clench my hands beneath the table. “California. Where you have what, Jenna? Another boyfriend with a yacht who’s sailing you around the world? Or is it the one who’s a movie star agent who takes you to all the best parties in LA?”
She narrows her eyes. “I have my own place and I’m working. I can take care of them.”
“You’ve never lifted a finger to take care of them.”
“I took Vi to get her hair and nails done. I would’ve taken Hazel if she wasn’t being kept from me.”
“That doesn’t even scratch the surface. I can’t believe you’d put these ideas into Vi’s head, about some dream life in California. You aren’t even a good part-time parent, much less a full-time one.”
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me. You show up maybe once a year with stories about how amazing your life without them is. All these rich, famous men who take you around the world. How do you think that makes them feel?”
She looks down. “I can’t make up for the past.”
“I’ve raised them,” I say fiercely. “Completely alone for almost ten years now. You don’t remember to call on their birthdays, you don’t pay for their school or extracurricular activities, you don’t take them on vacation or spend holidays with them. You’ve never called to see if you could help with anything, so you certainly don’t get to show up now and just take them.”
“I want to do this without fighting about it,” Jenna says. “I deserve a chance.”
“There’s no way I’m giving them up. We’re a family. You just don’t get it.”
“I have rights.”
“No, you don’t. You signed your rights away when you gave the kids to Mom and Dad. And they passed their guardianship rights to me when they died.”
Jenna folds her arms. “The papers I signed say I get to come see my kids whenever I want.”
“With approval. I’ll let you see them, but you’re not taking them. And you’re not staying at my house anymore.”
She rolls her eyes. “What, you expect me to go stay at one of Marnie’s cabins?”
“I don’t care where you stay, but I’m done putting you up. I miss Hazel and I want her to come home.”
“Vi wants to be with me.”
“That’s because you lie, Jenna. You convince the kids you’re a big deal with this glamorous life, and the sad thing is, they’d love you even more if you were just yourself. I’m the one who makes Vi brush her teeth and do her homework and study for exams. You take her to get her hair and nails done, while I pay for groceries and textbooks and braces. What I’m doing is parenting.”
“I’ll take you to court if I have to.”
“Go ahead.” I hold her gaze across the table.
She pushes her plate aside and stands up. “I’m going to say goodbye to the kids before I find a new place to stay while I’m here.”
“No, you’re leaving. Now.”
Jenna glares at me. “What happened to you, Allie? You didn’t used to be like this.”
“I’m just done, Jenna. You come here and upset everything and everyone with your visits, and you act like we should all be so grateful you even bothered. You have no idea what you’ve missed out on with those three kids. They’re absolutely amazing. The best part of my life. I’m proud of them, and—” My voice breaks and I clear my throat. “I’m pretty damn proud of myself, too. They were never a choice for me. I’d do it all over again in a heartbeat.”
My sister picks up her bag and walks out the back door. I’m half-expecting Vi to come storming out of her room and yell at me, but she doesn’t.
