Page 153 of Suck My Puck

I tap on the screen and read the text.

Mom:Merry Christmas, sweetheart. Your dad and I just wanted to say how much we love you. And that we’re so sorry for how we’ve let things between us get. Could you give us a call when you feel like it? We want to apologize.

Dad:We love you and miss you so much, Bella. We were wrong to handle things the way that we did with you.

For the second time in just a few minutes, I’m stunned.

I show the text to Braden. He reads it, his brow lifting.

“They sound really sorry,” he says quietly.

My chest squeezes. “Yeah. They do. I…I think I want to call them.”

Braden lets a small smile break free. “You should. I bet it would make their whole day to hear from you.”

He kisses my cheek and I stand up and walk into the bedroom to FaceTime them.

I hold my breath as I wait for them to pick up. Mom answers her phone on the third ring.

“Sweetheart. Hi.” I take in the relieved look in her eyes as she looks at me. She smiles, then moves the phone so my dad’s in frame too.

He has that same relieved and happy look on his face as he smiles at me. “It’s so nice to see you, honey.”

My throat aches with the sudden burst of emotion inside of me. I swallow it back. “Hey, guys. Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas,” they both say.

My mom’s eyes go teary. She lets out a breath. “We owe you an apology, sweetheart.”

My dad nods along. “We were wrong for how we treated you when you moved back home after your breakup. We’re so sorry.”

“We should have just supported you instead of criticizing you. We had no right to judge you.”

“I mean, I kind of get it,” I say. “It was a pretty stupid thing I did, moving to be with Matt.”

Dad shakes his head. “You were in love. I did plenty of foolish things when I was in love. And I hated it when my parents told me off for it. I shouldn’t have done the same to you, honey.”

“You should live your life the way you want, sweetheart,” Mom says. “From this moment on, we promise that we won’t give our opinions about what you do. Unless you want them of course.”

I let a smile break free.

“It’s been so hard, not seeing you or talking to you,” Dad says. “We understand why you distanced yourself from us. You had every right to. But we just hope that maybe some day, you’ll give us a chance to make things right with you.”

“As long as you’re happy and safe, that’s all we care about,” Mom says.

I take a second to soak in everything they’ve said. I can tell they mean what they say.

My chest aches. I’d love to have them in my life again.

“I’d love that, you guys,” I say.

They both break into massive smiles.

“Oh, sweetheart. We’re so happy to hear that,” Mom says.

I ask them how their Christmas has been. They tell methey’re about to head to a gathering at their neighbor’s house.

“How about you, sweetheart? What are you doing today?” Mom asks.

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