Page 19 of Mafia Christmas Vows

When her face pops up on my screen, I do my best to smile.

However, she is still my mom, and the second she sees me her eyebrows pinch with worry.

“Oh, baby. What’s wrong?”

Tears pinch the corners of my eyes.

I could tell her. I could explain everything, and let her know that I’m sad and lonely and nothing really seems right.

But…

I don’t want her to worry.

“Oh, nothing. Just dusty in here and I’ve been sneezing a lot.”

“You sure?”

I nod.

“Ok. Well, tell me everything.”

I break a smile.

And then I lie through my teeth.

I tell my mom that we’re planning a wedding later, and that she can come. I say that Alexei is kind, and thoughtful, and that he took me shopping. I tell her about Elena (which is true) and that the house is fantastic (also true). By the end of my story, I’m out of breath and half in love with the life that I’ve been describing to her.

It sounds lovely.

“Oh sweetheart. That sounds amazing. I can’t wait to meet him!”

“I can’t wait either,” I say, my jaw clicking around the lie.

“So, what are you two doing for Christmas?”

I squeeze my eyes shut. “Oh, you know. Decorating soon, but since it’s the first holiday I’m in the house and in Russia, I want to do like… Russian things.”

“Well that sounds fun, sweetheart. I can’t wait to see what you come up with.”

“How’s… um… dad?” I stumble. It feels weird to call him that but… technically he is my dad.

A blush creeps across my mom’s cheeks. “Well, it turns out that I remembered your father to be a very nice man and… he’s still a very nice man.”

“Mom!” I say, genuinely smiling.

“It’s been nice to reconnect, that’s all.”

Gross. “I don’t know what you mean by that, and I don’t want to.”

My mom laughs. “I’m so happy you’re doing well, sweetie. You know, maybe there’s a silver lining to all this.”

“Like what?”

She smiles. “Like, maybe we were meant to find these very nice men.”

Oh god.

My heart crumples. “Hey mom, I gotta go.”

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