Page 27 of Shattered Love

I sniff but it’s too late. The tears spill. “You hurt me, Momma. You hurt me so much.”

My mother nods. “I know, my sweet child. I’m forever going be sorry for that.”

Thick tears streak my face. “Dominic and I, we come as a package. You need to understand that he’s never leaving me. If he did, I would chase his ass. If you can’t accept that…”

I turn as I hear a grunt.

“Not happening, beautiful. You're stuck with me until we old and grey and we watching our grandbabies play in the backyard.”

I hear my mother sigh.

My dad coughs and we look up.

“Just checking my balls are still there and haven’t run away.”

Dominic lets out a deep laugh.

My mother and I stand and watch our husbands walk back into the kitchen, joking like old best friends.

“He’s one of the greats, Avery. I’m sorry I misjudged him so much.”

I grab my mom’s hand. “Please, just give him a chance.”

We spend the day with my parents. My father and Dominic get on well. Dominic grins at my father’s jokes and my father doesn’t care that Dominic is not a big speaker, as he speaks for both of them—a true Italian.

My mother and I catch up on everything from the last three years. There still tension between us. I’m still hurt, of course. I want my child to know their grandparents. My parents aren’t bad people, they just made a bad decision. As much as we think our parents have all the answers, the truth is they are only human. They are allowed to mess up from time to time.

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