Chapter 19 - The Letter for Nia
Marcus waited.
Every instinct told him to give Nia the letter immediately.
Instead, he spoke to her therapist first.
A real therapist.
One Nia had met three times and chosen to keep seeing.
Dr. Patel read the outside of the sealed envelope but not the contents.
“She should decide if she wants to open it,” she said.
At home, Marcus placed the envelope on the table.
Nia stared at her mother’s handwriting.
Her lips parted.
“Where was this?”
“Hidden.”
“By Simone?”
“Yes.”
Nia’s eyes hardened.
Marcus hated that a ten-year-old knew how to make that expression.
“Did she read it?”
“I don’t think so. It was sealed.”
Nia touched the envelope.
“Can I open it?”
“Yes.”
She did.
Marcus looked away while she read.
He gave her privacy without leaving.
After a minute, he heard her inhale sharply.
Then she slid the letter toward him.
“Read it.”
He did.
My Nia,
If you are reading this, then there may have been a day when I could not explain myself.
You were never too loud.
Never too needy.
Never too much.
If I looked tired, I was sick.
If I sounded angry, I was scared.
If I had to leave you, it was not because I wanted a life without you.
It was because my body could not stay.
Marcus stopped.
Nia was crying silently.
He kept reading.
You do not have to be good to deserve dinner.
You do not have to be quiet to deserve love.
You do not have to earn your place in your father’s heart.
He loves you in the boring, everyday, forever way.
And so do I.
Marcus could not finish out loud.
Nia climbed into his lap like she had when she was five.
He held her.
“I thought she left because I was hard,” she whispered.
“No.”
“Simone said—”
“I know.”
“She lied about everything.”
“Not everything.”
Nia looked up.
Marcus wiped his face.
“Simone was right about one thing. Your mom wasn’t perfect.”
Nia stared.
“Neither am I. Neither are you. Nobody is.”
He touched the letter.
“But love doesn’t require perfect.”
Nia leaned against him again.
That evening, Caleb came over with the caseworker’s approval.
They ate tacos.
Nia put too much cheese on hers.
Nobody said a word.
Later, while the kids watched a movie, Marcus received an email from Dana.
The subject line read: Settlement Proposal.
Simone was offering to waive claims to the house, accept limited supervised contact, and cooperate with correcting the children’s records.
In exchange, she wanted one thing.
Marcus opened the attachment.
His jaw tightened.
She wanted him to sign a statement saying she had never intended to harm either child.
Marcus read the sentence twice.
Then closed the laptop.
May you like
Some things could be negotiated.
Truth was not one of them.
