Page 46 of The Regrettable Mistake

My brother pointed over his shoulder. “That’s just the first one.”

“The first one? I thought you said ‘a package’.”

“A package with lots of parts?” He offered as a question.

“So there’s an order?”

“Yeah, there’s an order to them. That one first.” I glanced back up as my brother answered.

“Thought you didn’t know where the package came from?”

“Did I say that? I don’t remember saying that.”

I sighed. “What’s going on Steve?”

It looked to be about the size of a ring box, but there was no way someone had sent me a ring, considering my stupid fat fingers were too swollen to wear them. I peeled the cream and gold paper away and sure enough, there was a ring box. It was unusual though, as it seemed a tad bigger.

I opened it to see a mint green pacifier with an inscription on it. When I looked closer, the inscription was set in gold and read: I have the best mom!

I held the pacifier in my hand and stared at the inscription so long that Steve had to clear his throat to remind me that he was still there.

“These gifts aren’t from you?” I asked. When my eyes met with my brother’s identical pair, he shook his head. Neither of us willing to say the name of the person who had sent them. It didn’t stop me from knowing.

Steve handed me another, larger rectangular-shaped box. I opened it to find a matching baby bottle and coffee mug.

The bottle said: Mornings with Mommy

The coffee mug said: Mommy’s Prayer: Quiet mornings without poopy diapers.

Despite knowing who sent these things, I couldn’t hold back the laugh. Steve moved closer and took a good look at all three items. He smiled down at me before he ran to his truck for something else. While he was gone, I went to put everything back in their boxes when I noticed there was something taped to the lids.

When I peeled it off the pacifier box lid, I was greeted with a picture of Denmark wearing a Best Big Brother shirt and a matching smile that lit up the photo. The photo attached to the other box had a picture of Ollie and Denmark standing side-by-side wearing nearly identical grins, though Ollie’s didn’t reach his eyes the way his son’s did. They both wore t-shirts that said: Waiting for another member of our family. It had a picture of a boy holding a baby on it.

On second glance, that was only what Denmark’s shirt said. Ollie’s was a little different. His read: Waiting on the rest of my family. Ollie’s shirt had a man standing next to a little boy and an outlined spot for the woman and baby that were missing from his life.

I swiped at the tears I didn’t realize had fallen until one dripped on the second picture. I quickly shook it off and set it to the side as my brother returned with two more boxes.

“Why the tears?” My brother asked as he set the boxes down. I handed him the pictures.

“Damn, he really knows how to go for the heartstrings, huh?”

“Why is it that you don’t seem angry with him anymore?”

Steve shrugged. “Don’t get me wrong, Sis. I still want to punch the asshole in the balls a few times. I think he started out in a shitty place with you, but I also think somewhere along the way you worked your magic on him.”

I huffed out an unflattering noise. “Obviously not, since he chose to have sex with someone else.”

“Once. He regretted it. I think he’s learned a hell of a lesson.”

“So, you think I should just forgive him for everything?” I asked, completely shocked at my twin.

Steve shook his head. “Normally, I’d say hell no. I want to say no. I want to tell you to run far, far away and never look back.”

“But?”

“But you have kids together. You’re going to be in one another’s lives for years to come. How will you handle it when he does start to date someone else? I already know he won’t do well when it’s you dating some other man.”

“I think we’ve already seen how I would handle him with another woman, since it happened during our marriage.”

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