Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 82930 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 415(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82930 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 415(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
“Actually, I came to give this to you.” Her mother pulled out an envelope. “This is the first payment, and we’ll have more soon.”
Petal frowned as she took the envelope from her mother and then pulled out a check. “What’s this?”
“Your father and I did some calculating, and we came up with a sum, added interest, and we’re going to be paying you back. Your father finally got that promotion, and I went to the doctor’s and have been getting help—a lot of help—and for the first time in over twenty years, I finally feel like myself.”
“Mom, you don’t have to do this.” She reached out to hand the check back, but her mother put her hand over it. “Yes, I do. I have plenty to repay you and George for. We have already reached out to your brother, and on his next vacation, he’s coming home. I want you to come around for dinner as well, and I want to say thank you for being an amazing daughter, and I’m so sorry I was a shitty mother.”
“Mom, come on, you don’t have to worry about any of this.”
She felt the burn at the back of her throat.
“I was never supposed to be this way,” her mother said. “All I ever wanted was to be a good wife and a fantastic mother. My own mother said it was going to be hard, that I underestimated what it took to raise a family, and you know what, she was right. I failed you, I failed George, I failed my sons and daughters, but no more.”
“Where’s David?”
“With your father, along with the others. You do not have to worry. I put too much on you at a young age. I’m going to make that right.” Her mom reached out and stroked her cheek. “You have turned into a fine woman, and I know it had nothing to do with me, but all to do with Gabrielle. She raised you where I failed.”
“Mom, stop.”
“I know this, and I accept it. I hate it. I hate that I failed you, and when you were in the hospital I would have been nothing more than a burden to you while you were recovering—”
“What?” Petal asked, confused.
“When you were in the hospital, after you had gotten shot. You father and I went, and it was a reality check. Your friend, I don’t remember his name, something to do with mud.”
“Dirty,” Petal said.
“Yeah, he was there and he told us we should be ashamed. That you needed to rest and not be the parent. He opened our eyes, and he has done that twice now.”
“He has, has he?”
And it was then that she learned Dirty had been to visit her parents and given them both a cold dose of reality, and it pulled her mother out of her spiral in a way no one had been able to do before.
She came to learn that her parents did in fact attempt to visit her at the hospital. Dirty stopped it. Did he have the right to do that? Hell, no. Would she have felt pressured and worried about her parents more than what was happening to her? Yes, and she hated that Dirty had thought of that.
“Your father and I started to talk a lot more, and I told him the truth. Most of the time, the hot meal he got at night wasn’t cooked by me, but by you or one of the kids. That you took care of everything.” Her mother’s eyes were glazed with tears. “When you should have been worried about boys or studying, or doing anything else, you were being the mother.”
“Mom, don’t worry about it. I was helping.”
“You weren’t just helping. You were doing, and that is why your father and I are going to take care of everything from now on. We’re going to pay you back the money we owe you.”
“Mom, come on, I was helping family.”
“And it was us that were supposed to support you. You shouldn’t be the one taking care of us. That will come later, much later, but for now, we’re taking care of you.” Her mother reached out and cupped her cheek. “I’m going to be the mother you deserve.”
“Mom, you are the mother I love and deserve.”
“I’m going to be better because you, Sweetheart, deserve better. All my children do.”
There was something different with her mother. A spark. She didn’t quite know what it was, but she had never seen her mother this way. It was so refreshing. Petal couldn’t help it. She moved toward her mother, and for the first time in what felt like a lifetime, and probably was, she stepped into her mother’s arms and held her tightly. This felt good. Better than good.
“I’ve got you, honey.”
She held onto her mother. She didn’t know how long the hug lasted, but at the sound of the kettle whistling, she finally let her mother go.