“But I still want you to know how sorry we are for lying to you kids,” her mom said, pulling Mallory a little closer. “I don’t regret the decision to separate from your father, but I do regret letting the secret go on this long. It wasn’t fair to you guys.”
Mallory didn’t argue.
“But we’re going to make it up to you,” Callie went on. “Your father and I have agreed to not only answer any questions you kids have, but to never, I meanneverlie to you all again. I know these are just empty words right now, but we’re going to prove that you can trust us. No matter how long it takes, we’ll do whatever we can to earn back your trust.”
Mallory was quiet for a moment, then hooked her arm around her mom’s waist. “I do trust you, Mom,” she said. “Mostly.”
Callie laughed. “Mostly?”
“Yeah, well, I’ll trust youfullyonce you finally tell me what Sasha was actually doing in your bedroom the other day.” Mallory pulled away enough to give her mom a determinedstare. “Because you and I both know she wasn’t in there getting soap.”
Callie grinned and threw both her arms around Mallory so she could hug her as tight as possible. “You’re right. She wasn’t in there for soap. I’ll tell you the full story, but first, let’s go inside and get a glass of wine.”
“You just read my mind.”
*
Inside the house, Mallory was a little surprised to find such a normal, happy family scene playing out. The kids, who seemed energized by sugar thanks to the ice cream sundae bar in the kitchen, were running around with big smiles on their faces. Ariel and Erica were chatting in the living room with glasses of wine in hand. Sasha, Taylor, and David were looking through photos of what appeared to be some of the tourist offerings of the Middle East on Taylor’s laptop, making a list of all the places David needed to visit while he was there. Mallory and Callie were about to join them when Mallory heard a soft cry coming from down the hall.
“Oh, I think Dot’s awake,” Mallory said.
“Sasha put her playpen in the office after you left, that way we wouldn’t wake Dot,” Callie explained. “I’ll go get her.”
“No, it’s okay,” Mallory said, putting a hand up to stop her mom. “I’ll grab her.”
Callie frowned. “You really want to?”
Mallory laughed and rolled her eyes. “Okay, look, I know I’m not a huge baby person, but Dot’s my niece, so it’s about time I start forming a relationship with her, right?” She shrugged. “Besides, if there’s one person who we can say for sure iscompletely and utterlyinnocent in all of this, it’s her.”
“That’s true.” Callie smiled. “Alright, go get her. I’ll grab us some wine.”
Mallory headed down the hall and stepped into the office. She found Dot sitting up on her own, her back leaning against one side of her playpen. She cooed when she spotted Mallory and lifted her arms up in the air. Mallory nearly cried, she was so shocked by this.
“Really?” She laughed as she bent down to scoop the child into her arms. “You want me to hold you? You know I’m not your mom, right?”
But Dot didn’t seem to mind, her little hand reaching out to touch Mallory’s face. One of her fingers was wet, probably from recently being in the baby’s mouth, but Mallory didn’t care. She just laughed and nuzzled her nose into Dot’s cheek. “You are pretty darn cute, you know that? Everyone’s always saying it, but I think this is the first time I’ve really seen it firsthand. Sorry I haven’t been paying you much attention the past couple of weeks.” She rocked a little, balancing Dot on her hip. “A lot’s been going on.”
“Now that’s the understatement of the century.”
Mallory spun around to see Sasha standing in the doorway. “Oh, hey. I heard her crying so I just—”
“It’s fine,” Sasha said with a grateful smile. “I appreciate the help. Especially after… everything.”
“Yeah, well… I was just telling my mom that Dot’s the only one of us who is completely blameless in all of this. I don’t hold anything against her.”
Sasha nodded, but she looked a little saddened by the comment. “I take it that means you do hold something against me?”
Mallory shook her head. “Oh—no. That’s not what I meant. After hearing your side of things earlier today, I don’t see how I could be mad at you either. It’s not like you really did anythingwrong, and if you had thoughts of scamming my parents at one point—I can’t say I wouldn’t have felt the same way had I been in your shoes.”
Sasha sighed heavily and stepped further into the room. Mallory thought for sure the baby would reach for her mom, but Dot rested her head on Mallory’s chest, seeming perfectly content where she was. “You know, your family is something else. The fact that any of you can find a way to forgive your parents and to forgive me, it’s just—it shows that you all have your priorities in order.”
“Ha!” Mallory scoffed. “I’m not sure anyone has ever suggested that I was someone with my priorities in order, but hey, I’ll take it. And while we’re on the subject of forgiveness, I wanted to say that I’m sorry for the way I’ve been treating you. Yes, you were lying about some details, but you really did show up here in need of help for yourself and your baby, and I shouldn’t have been so cold.”
“It’s alright—”
“It’s not,” Mallory corrected her. “But I hope I can make it up to you. I want to show you that I’m not the kind of person you might think I am. The way I’ve been behaving lately—well, not to make excuses, but this isn’t me. I’ve just been so frustrated and confused about where my own life is headed. And with my fortieth birthday around the corner, I just sort of lost track of myself. I took out my own frustrations on you, which was completely unfair. I’m sorry, truly.”
Sasha smiled, this time with no sadness in her eyes. “I accept your apology. And I’m sorry too, for not just coming forward from the beginning. Maybe the two of us could’ve become friends if I hadn’t been keeping so many secrets from you.”
