Sophie watched the door click shut behind Annette,her smile fading the moment she was out of sight.
The woman who came late.
That's what Sophie kept calling her in her mind.She hadn't meant to be unkind -not at first.She understood that life could spiral,that people made mistakes they spent years trying to mend.But knowing that and feeling it were two different things.
She glanced down at Asta.He was already back to pushing his toy car across the cushion,blissfully unaware of the emotional undercurrents that had just swept through the room.He didn't know Annette.Not really.To him,she was just onother adult with soft eyes and careful words.A stranger.
And yet,Sophie saw the way Annette looked at him-as if she were trying to memorize him.As if every breath she took in his presence was painful and precious.
It stirred something bitter in Sophie's chest.
She gave him away.Whether by choice or circumstances,she hadn't been there.And Sophie had.Through the fevers,the sleepless nights,the tantrums and tender moments.She had earned every moment of Asta's love,brick by brick.
Now Annette wanted to return and-what?Be called mother?
Sophie's jaw tightened.
She wasn't afraid of Annette.But she didn't trust her,either.Love wasn't a tittle you reclaimed just because you decided you were ready.It was something you built.And if Annette thought a few afternoon visits and wistful smiles would bridge the gap,she had no idea how deep it really ran.
Still,Sophie couldn't deny the flicker she'd seen in Asta's eyes when Annette crouched to speak to him.Not love.Not even familiarity.But...interest.
And that scared her more than anything.
Sophie let the curtain fall from her fingers and turned away from the window.She heard the small,rhythmic sounds of toy wheels on the floor and followed the noise with her eyes.Asta had wondered over to Jonathan-Wangari's boy-his little cousin who was close in age.The two of them were crouched by the toy chest,heads almost touching,swapping cars like miniature businessman bartering over prized possessions.
She felt a strange knot twist in her stomach.
Not because of Asta-he was fine,safe content.But because of Annette .Because of what she stirred up,like a quiet storm behind every polite word and bittersweet smile.
Sophie sat down slowly,her eyes never leaving the little boys as they rolled toy cars across the rug.Asta laughed-freely,without a care-his hand brushing Jonathan's as he showed off a green plastic truck with flashing lights.The sound should have brought her peace.
Instead,It left her unsettled.
Annette's scent still lingered faintly in the room-some understand perfume with the softness of jasmine and the faintest hint of melancholy.It annoyed Sophie that she noticed.
She folded her arms,her thoughts drifting not to Asta this time,but to the man they'd left behind at home -her husband.Annette's ex.Asta's father
He'd said all the right things when they discussed Annette's possible appearance.He said you're the one who's here,Sophie.She can't undo that.
But he'd also been quiet.Thoughtful.Too thoughtful.
Sophie hated how easily doubt could crawl under her skin.How it could shape her love into something sharp and defensive.
She could picture it too clearly:Annette standing by the door of their home next time,her voice soft,her eyes just wet enough to be forgiven.I didn't know how to stay.The kind of broken that made men want to fix things again.
She wouldn't blame him-not completly.They had history,and Sophie knew what kind of gravity that created.A child,a shared past,grief neither of them had ever truly unpacked.
But love wasn't measured by what had been.It was proven in the now.
And right now,she was the one who tucked Asta in,who packed his snack for daycare,who stood in the bathroom at midnight wiping throw-up from his pajamas while humming lullabies with a cracked voice and zero sleep.
She was the one who stayed.
And if Annette thought she could simply step back into the picture-complete with sorrowful eyes and a mother's claim-Sophie wasn't going to stand by and watch her rewrite the story.
She could play nice for a moment.For Asta.For Wangari and Charles and their sweet unware daughters drifting like princesses down the hallway.But when it came down to it,Sophie knew exactly what this visit was:
A test.A soft warning.
And if it turned into a threat-On Asta,on her home,on him-then Annette would learn something quickly.
Sophie hadn't fought this hard to be temporary.
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The road ahead shimmered faintly in the afternoon heat as Annette guided the car toward the plant.Her hands gripped the wheel lightly,but her shoulders held tension she hadn't realized until now.The engine hummed-a low,steady sound-but inside,her thoughts were anything but still.
She should've been thinking about work.Whatever had gone wrong at the plant could probably be traced back to a line pressure issue,a faulty circuit.That was her world.Neat problems with technical solutions.
He hadn't looked at her with recognition.
Not fear.Not dislike.Just...indifference.The polite curiosity a child shows a distant relative.And she had smiled through it,even as her chest burned with the ache of being unknown.
But it wasn't his fault.
If she were him-just three years old,barely past babbling,still learning to name the word-she would've clung to the one who was there.The woman who fed him,brushed his hair,knew which spoon he liked best.Sophie.
Annette let out a slow breath through her nose.
She wanted to hate her.She really did.
But the truth was more complicated.Sophie had been kind,composed.Protective.She had every reason to be.And still,she'd shared space,stepped aside,even made sure Annette sat beside Asta at afternoon tea time.
Still...it stung.Watching Asta reach for Sophie's hand instead of hers.Watching him turn to Sophie when he needed help wiping his mouth.That bond-the soft tether of familiarity-belonged to someone else now.
It should have been mine,Annette thought bitterly.
Then she corrected herself.
It could've been mine.If I'd stayed.
The guilt,always lurking,pressed its cold weight against her ribs.She had her reasons.They were complicated.Messy.Real.But reasons didn't erase absence.They didn't undo birthdays missed or the lullabies he didn't learn from her voice.
A flicker of pain passed through her.Would he ever look at me the way he looks at her?
She didn't know.
But she knew this:she would't disappear again.Even if she had to watch Sophie hold the pieces she once dropped,even if she had to earn every inch of trust from a boy who didn't remember her voice-she would stay.
This time,she'd stay.