Page 128 of Set the Moment
“But you did. You did and that’s fine, don’t lie to me. I’m an adult now. I set the moments up perfectly. I made sure that I was there each and every single time you claimed you’d show up. I was the perfect daughter and you were the perfect, absentee mother—”
Something in my mother snaps. She riles herself up and then yells, “I gave you everything, Sienna! You were difficult—you would scream and cry and I—Ineverwanted to be a mom. I wantedhim,but he wanted you!”
The silence between us is loud and my heart cracks just a bit more as her words saw at my heart.
“I wanted to be free, Sienna, and then I met you. I loathed you—I did. But then I fell in love with you, and it was too late. You were maybe five or six—youdidn’t need me, you had your nanny at the time. You would've been so much better off without me, and that’s the truth. I was never meant to be a mom, but Ineverwanted to hurt you. I didn’t know about the bullying or the standards you gave yourself. I didn’t know.”
I sniff deeply, inhaling her words and blowing them out. She’s right. She was never meant to be a mom, and she didn’t know.
“You’re right, Eloisa, you didn’t know. But you also never asked. You claim that you fell in love with me and that I didn’t need you, but I was six…I needed a mother and you craved fame. You say Dad wanted me, but where is he? You may have thought he wanted me, but he’s with you, right now.Neitherof you deserved me,” I say, and don’t give her the chance to respond before hanging up.
I don’t notice Jace standing next to me, or feel the small circles he traces on my arm, but when he pulls me into chest, I realize that this is where I belong. With him, I’m loved. With my friends and with the rest of my family, I’m cared for.
Sometimes the people you meet are more of a family to you than the people who birth you.
“I’m sorry, angel,” he says, kissing my hair as I shrug.
“Don’t be. Tell your mom and nonna I’d love to see them this Christmas.”
fifty-two
Jace
“Babe.”
Poke.
“Babe…”
Poke. Poke.
I squint, twisting in my spot on the bed, groaning I open one eye and immediately jolt awake at the sight in front of me. Sienna stands over the bed, hovering above me with an evil smile on her face.
Yawning, I stretch a bit. “What time is it?”
She plants herself in the small corner of the bed between my body and the edge. My arm immediately wraps around her waist and my cheek warms as she kisses it.
“4:00 AM…”
Four…
Four AM?!
Why do both Sienna and her cousin think that sleep is for the dead? What the hell is she doing up so early?
Before I can voice my question, she places a small envelope in front of my eyes and smiles triumphantly as I eye it.
“Merry Christmas.” She beams at me, her eyes dazzling as I sit up, turning on the lamp beside us. My resolve softens at the sight of her, and I pull her in, kissing her softly.
“Merry Christmas, angel. What’s this?” I ask noting the way she’s buzzing with joy as she smiles nervously.
“I may have wrote you a few letters and lists as a kid, and I uh…I wanted to give them to you if we ever dated in the future. Don’t read it now, but please read them before New Year's. Is this an okay gift? If you want something like a new paint brush set or cologne, I’ll get it but I just thought that you’d—”
I cut her off with soft kiss to her lips. “This is all I could’ve ever wanted. Thank you.”
“Really?” she asks, pulling away with a small shy smile as I nod.
“This is the best gift ever, now let’s go back to bed…Wouldn’t want you sleepy while you and Nonna play games tomorrow.”
