Lina stopped calling.
And somehow, within weeks, the family conversation became less about what they had done and more about how I reacted to it.
My father said:
“You can’t force a man to stay where he isn’t happy.”
I hadn’t tried.
My mother reminded me:
“Lina is still your sister.”
Nobody seemed particularly interested in reminding Lina of that.
Then I lost the baby.
There was no dramatic explanation.
No doctor pointing at stress and saying, “This caused it.”
Sometimes terrible things happen without providing anyone the satisfaction of knowing why.
One day, I was pregnant.Baby & Pet Names
Then I wasn’t.
I went home from the hospital with empty arms.
My children kept asking questions I didn’t know how to answer.
Ryan cried when I told him.
“I’m so sorry.”
I hung up.
Three weeks later, he and Lina announced their engagement.
That was when something inside me simply stopped.
I stopped arguing.
Stopped begging my parents to understand.
Stopped trying to explain why I couldn’t attend family dinners where Lina and Ryan sat together.
If everyone else wanted to pretend this was an ordinary romance, they could.
I couldn’t.
And on their wedding day, I stayed home.
Around noon, my phone rang.
My cousin Nora.
She was one of the few relatives who had never told me to “move on.”
“Hey.”
“Annie.”
I sat up.
Something was wrong.
“What happened?”
“You need to come here.”
My heart jumped immediately to Amelia.
“Is Amelia okay?”
“She’s okay.”
“What happened?”
Nora lowered her voice.
“She stopped the ceremony.”
I stood.
“What?”
“Not the wedding itself. They’re married.”
I closed my eyes briefly.Family
“Then what?”
“They were doing this family ceremony afterward.”
“What family ceremony?”
“A unity candle.”
I already hated where this was going.
“Apparently Ryan and Lina had a candle, and Amelia had a smaller one.”
“Why?”
“She was supposed to light hers from theirs.”
I gripped my phone.
“What was that supposed to mean?”
Nora hesitated.
“Lina said it symbolized them becoming one family.”
I closed my eyes.
Of course.
“What did Amelia do?”
“She asked where you go.”
I stopped breathing for a second.
“What?”
“In front of everybody.”
Nora’s voice softened.
“She said, ‘If lighting this means we’re one family now, where does Mom go?’”
I sat down.
“What did Ryan say?”
