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“Oh, honey. It’s okay.” Mary put the large cup down on the drawer. The cup heaved with whipped cream and marshmallows floating on the top of her hot chocolate. That was the special Christmas hot chocolate that her mother did every December first, to celebrate the start of Christmas month.
“It’s not okay.”
“A lot of things always look worse on the day. Give it time, and have some rest, and you’ll find that everything is better in the morning.”
Autumn covered her face, sobbing into her hands as her mother hugged her. It wasn’t enough. She had hurt her sister, and she was a horrible person. Then she thought about Carter, and she felt she was the worst person in the world. She’d kept him as a dirty little secret, and that’s not how you treat the man you love.
“Mary, it’s okay,” her father said, coming into the room.
“Bill?”
“No, this is for me to deal with.”
Her mother left the room, and Autumn cried as her father sat down, pulling her in for a hug. “I’m so sorry,” she said.
“I don’t know what the problem is, sweetie, but you shouldn’t be crying. No man is worth this kind of tears.”
“This isn’t about a man. This is my own fault. I shouldn’t have done something.”
“Well, how about you tell me, and I’ll let you know if it’s really all that bad.” He rubbed her back, and she closed her eyes, spilling everything out. She didn’t go into too much detail because she wasn’t about to tell her father she fucked her sister’s ex, but he knew.
“Oh, honey, I see why you think you should feel guilty, but you really shouldn’t.”
“She loves him.”
“We all know Summer. We know how she flits from one man to the next. I remember Carter. He’s a good man. A different kind of man, I admit. The long hair, the tattoos, they don’t exactly make him sound like he’s a good one, but I get it.”
She chuckled. “I love him.”
“Summer has no claim to him. No matter what she says, she has no claim. Whatever happened between her and Carter ended years ago.”
“You must be really disappointed in me.”
“No, not at all. You’ve fallen in love. How can I be angry about you falling in love? It’s what we all do.” He kissed the top of her head. “I believe Summer fell in love with someone else, Autumn. She lashed out at you, and it wasn’t the right thing to do.”
She wiped the tears away. “I just got out of there. I left Carter to deal with it. I’m a horrible person. I should have done this, not him.”
“Drink your hot chocolate. You can stay here for however long you like.” Her father kissed her head, and left her alone. Picking up the hot chocolate, she took a marshmallow off the top, and popped it into her mouth.
“I suck.”
Time passed, she didn’t know how much, and suddenly there was a knock on the door. Before she could say anything, her sister popped her head around the door.
Sitting up, Autumn stared at Summer.
Her sister’s eyes were red and puffy.
“I come in peace.” Summer held her hands up in surrender.
“Hey.”
“Carter is downstairs. I came with him.”
“Oh.” Autumn’s heart started to break.
“Not like that. Carter isn’t with me. He made me come with him so that I could make it up with you.”
“Oh.”
