Her eyes filled.
“I didn’t know I was surviving you too.”
That was when she finally turned toward me.
“Mom.”
I opened my arms.
She collapsed against me.
I held her while she cried.
Not the cautious tears she had cried when she learned she was pregnant.
Not the frightened tears from the cake.
These were different.
This was grief.
Mark remained several feet away.
Nobody comforted him.
Lauren did not decide the future of her marriage that afternoon.
I was glad.
Some decisions deserve more than the worst hour of your life.Plan Family Trips
She came home with me.
Mark stayed somewhere else.
For the first few days, Lauren barely talked.
She ate because I put food in front of her.
Slept badly.
Checked on the baby constantly.
At night, I sometimes heard her crying behind the guest-room door.
I wanted to fix it.
Mothers always want to fix things.
