Chapter 24 - The Video
Lily asked to see camera footage while pregnant.
I said:
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
We watched together.
Old clip.
Bright party.
My pale-blue dress.
Vanessa black.
Me at top.
Push.
Daniel running.
Margaret emerging.
Lily paused before fall completed.
“That’s enough.”
I stopped.
She cried.
“So small.”
“What?”
“My bump.”
I smiled.
“You were not small inside.”
She touched her stomach.
“Did you know I was girl?”
“No.”
“Dad thought boy.”
“He owes me fifty dollars.”
She laughed through tears.
Then looked at frozen Vanessa.
“I know her now.”
“Yes.”
“That woman doesn’t look like Aunt Vanessa.”
“She was.”
“Both?”
“Yes.”
Hardest family truth.
People are not single moments.
Moments still matter.
She deleted nothing.
Closed laptop.
May you like
“I don’t need to watch again.”
Neither did I.
