For years, she had mistaken being needed for being loved. Now she could feel the difference. Need grabbed. Love made room.
“We can,” she said. “And everyone pays their own way through life.”
Kevin lifted his hands. “Understood.”
Madison smiled sheepishly. “Understood.”
Brian nodded. “Understood.”
Helen walked them to the door one by one.
After the last car drove away, she returned to the kitchen, poured herself a glass of wine, and opened the leather journal she had bought in Florence.
On the first page, she wrote:
Mother’s Day was the day I finally gave my children something useful: the bill.
Then she sat by the window, listening to the quiet house breathe around her, and began planning her next trip.
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