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I turned off my computer and put the legal pad in my desk drawer.
“Stay for a few moments,” my mother whispered.
I waved my hand out for them to take a seat. It took her a few minutes to speak.
“Dymon, um…” She cleared her throat. I could see her swallowing. “Yesterday really opened my eyes to a lot.”
“Yesterday,” I mumbled.
“Please don’t fight me, Dymon. Just listen to me.” She paused. “Yesterday, I thought I was losing Declan. And it made me think about how I’d lost you already. It made me think about how I haven’t been the best mom to you. How I’d thrown you to the nannies, letting them deal with you. Truth is, Dymon…I didn’t connect with you. You were perfect…literally, perfect. I didn’t know how to be a mom to a perfect child.”
“Why does everyone keep saying that? I wasn’t perfect.”
“You didn’t cry when you came out. You potty trained yourself. You were reading on a fifth grade level in the third grade. Winning all types of competitions at twelve. Dymon, I still have the freaking computer that you built in the seventh grade. I didn’t know how to parent you because I felt like I didn’t have to. You were always independent. And then you hit puberty and instantly became mean. Resentful toward me and your father. I, well, both me and your father take responsibility for that. We should have been better parents to you.”
I was speechless.
“Declan laying in that hospital bed slapped me in the face like two bricks. I kept thinking what if something happened to you, and I never got to apologize to you. That guilt would eat at me for the rest of my life. And then it didn’t help when you came in there with a busted eye and a busted lip. You don’t have to accept my apology right now, but at some point, I hope you will. I’m going to do better unless it’s too late.”
“It’s never too late, I suppose.”
Before she could respond, my desk phone rang. I pressed the speaker button.
“Dymon.”
There was a gasp. “Dymon? Dymon, no-middle-name, Danger! Oh my gosh! I have been calling you and calling you! You better be a ghost!”
That made me smile. I’d been missing her all day. Even if I wanted to call her, my day had been so busy that I could barely touch my phone.
“I am not a ghost.”
“I saw that your brother had a heart attack! Is he okay?”
“He did not have a heart attack. He’s fine.”
“Whew. Okay, that’s great. Now! Back to me calling you and calling you and calling you. I have been going crazy!”
“Baby, you know how you are about your space. So—”
“I didn’t mean for you to carry your ass back to New York, and without me! Are we breaking up? Well, you did have to go back for your brother, but without me! I went searching all over Citrus Grove for you. I literally thought you let Derek beat your ass and run you out of town.”
“You never ever thought that for real.”
She laughed so loud, and that was when I could tell that she was stuffy. She’d been crying.
“No, I didn’t. I saw him earlier, and his face was swollen like a pumpkin. Good for him.”
“Can I call you in the car?”
“Why? Where are you?”
“Babe, you literally called my office phone.”
“Oh. Brain fart. Wait. I did call you there. Why are you there? Did your dad sucker you back in?”
I looked at him and then back at the phone.
“Um…” I looked at my dad who’d held up his hand. “Not exactly. I told you that I kind of liked it here.”
