After school, my parents drove off with my sister’s kids right in front of my daughter.-yilux

“You sound insane.”

“Do I?”

I set Lily down gently and kept one hand on her shoulder.

“Tell me the last birthday present you bought me.”

Miranda blinked.

“What?”

“The last one. Tell me.”

“That’s irrelevant.”

“Tell me.”

She crossed her arms tighter.

“I don’t remember.”

“Because there hasn’t been one in six years. Tell me the last time you called Lily just to ask how she was.”

Silence.

“The last time you thanked me without immediately asking for something else.”

Nothing.

I looked at Dean.

“The last time you told your children their school was paid for by someone other than magic.”

He swallowed.

“They’re kids.”

“Exactly,” I said. “And yet somehow the adults are the ones least interested in reality.”

My mother slammed her palm against the table.

“This is enough.”

The china rattled.

Lily flinched.

I put my arm around her fully now.

“No,” I said, quieter than before. “You don’t get to decide when enough happens. Not tonight.”

My father looked old suddenly.

Not softer.

Just older.

“What do you want?” he asked.

There it was.

Not what do you need.

Not how do we repair this.

What do you want.

As though every wound is merely a negotiation waiting for the right price.

I took a breath.

“I want the truth spoken plainly.”

My mother laughed bitterly.

“The truth is that you have always resented your sister.”