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There was a collective intake of breath.
“Baby girl,” Garrett began, glancing at Mariana’s stricken face. “That’s your grandma you’re talking about.”
Stella's cheeks turned beet red. “She told everyone she was my mama. But she’s not!”
Well, shit.
Emma looked as crushed as her mother. “She did that to protect you, baby. Remember when we talked about that?”
Stella inhaled, the jut of her chin disturbingly familiar.
Dear God, she’s me at that age.
“She’s a liar!” his daughter shouted. “I want to stay with you and my real mama!”
Garrett rose, plucking his daughter out of her chair. He carried her to the living room as Stella screamed at her grandmother.
“I didn’t know my papa because of you!”
Emma and a shell-shocked Mariana followed him. His mother-in-law was already in tears, her hand over her mouth.
He sat on the couch, holding Stella in his lap. Emma took the seat opposite them, trying to soothe her with murmured reassurances.
But Stella didn’t want soothing. She wanted to stay mad. Garrett knew that feeling better than anyone, but her anger was misdirected.
He searched for the right words but settled for the bald truth. “Stella, what happened wasn’t your grandmother’s fault,” he said firmly, repeating it until she quieted down enough to listen. “It wasmine. I was the one who made a mistake. And it was huge—the biggest one I ever made.”
He jiggled her on his knee, wondering if anything was getting through.
Judging from the stubborn little lines of her face, it wasn’t. “Do you want to know what it was? No? Well, I’m going to tell you anyway—I didn’t come back.”
Garrett met Emma’s eyes, his words for her as much as their daughter. “I should have known that something was terribly wrongwhen your mother wouldn’t return my calls after our fight. That was the biggest clue in the entire universe and like a giant stupid-head, I missed it. Because there is literally nothing that your mother loves more than arguing with me.”
Emma laughed, her eyes bright with unspent tears. “Still do. Sometimes.”
“You see, baby girl, if anyone is to blame, it’sme,” he stressed. “And with your mama in the hospital for so long, your grandma Mariana did the best thing she could think to do—she took care of you. Long enough for all of us to find each other again. But now we’re all together and we can be a family. One with a mama, a papa, and a grandma.”
“And an Aunt Phil,” Emma added.
Garrett snapped his fingers. “Yes, her too.”
He should have included his father on that list too, but he didn’t have the energy to explain what ‘estranged’ meant.
Stella turned to her mother. “Mommy, don’t be sad,” she said when she saw the traces of tears on Emma’s cheeks.
She gave Stella a watery smile. “I am a little sad but mostly happy. We’re allowed to be both.”
“Oh.” Stella pushed her head back into his chest. “Does that mean I can be madandhappy?”
“Of course, baby girl. I’m mad and happy all the time,” he said.
Stella wasn’t comforted by this.
“Are you mad at me?” she whispered, her lower lip trembling. “Because I won’t stay with Grandma?”
“No, never,” Emma added, squeezing in next to him so she could wrap her arm around Stella. “We want you with us all the time. But we’re not the only ones who love you. Grandma took care of you for a long time, and she loves you sooo much. We know we have to share.”
Stella thought about it. “I can watch a movie with Grandma. But then I’ll come back here to my room, and you can tuck me in.”