Page 109 of Forfeits

“Yeah, I did. I’m still the queen. He made a good effort, but”—she shrugged again, chewing smugly on a piece of toast—“I beat his sorry ass.”

Aiden barked a laugh as I put some scrambled eggs onto his plate and offered him some buttered toast.

“Thank you. Wow, this is good service.”

“Ha-ha,” I said. “Maybe I want you to come back.”

We saw Lucy off. I was pleased that she felt okay about Aiden sleeping over. She was twelve years old and not stupid. She knew there was sex involved. Sometimes I still felt weird about having a boyfriend, when I’d promised my heart to Daniel. But the vows were ‘until death do us part’ for a reason. I had no doubt that Daniel would have wanted me to find someone else so that I could be happy and also so that Lucy could have another person to look out for her.

For the first time in a long time, I felt that I might actually survive this—except for the whole Annie and Brian factor.

Aiden and I sat down over second cups of coffee to discuss it.

“Have you told your therapist about it?”

“Yes.”

“What does she think?”

“She’s as concerned as I am. She thinks it would be further traumatizing to Lucy. It’s already traumatizing me.”

“Would Annie and Brian be willing to sit down with her?”

I shook my head. “No. They’re from a generation that doesn’t believe in psychological therapy. Fuck, I hadn’t thought about that. They’d probably take Lucy out of therapy if she went to live with them.”

Aiden made a face.

“So…what can we do about Annie and Brian?”

“I honestly don’t have a clue…except try not to lose my temper again because that will only make the situation worse. They already think I’m a bad parent.”

“I don’t know about that.”

“They thought I was pretty irresponsible last night, leaving her with Robin and going out with you.”

“I think…they are under the delusion that they could do a better job, if only because there are two of them. Or…”

“Hmm? Or what?”

“Or it’s something else. Some way to hold on to Daniel, maybe?”

“Huh. That’s what my therapist said…and Catherine.”

“Who’s Catherine?”

“Daniel’s sister. Patrick’s mom. I told her what was going on, and she talked to Annie and Brian. But she says they’re determined, and she can’t stop them. She did try to talk some sense into them.”

“You know, people grieve in all kinds of ways. Daniel was their son, and all he’s left behind is Lucy.”

“And me. Don’t forget about me.”

“How could I forget that? It’s the only reason I’ve got you.”

I reached out to hold Aiden’s hand.

He continued. “But, for them, maybe holding tighter to Lucy is how they’re trying to process their grief.”

I let go of Aiden’s hand. “But they can’t have her! She’s my daughter.”

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