A little girl with dark braids holding a newborn wrapped in a yellow blanket.
“I know,” I whispered.
She wiped her cheeks.
“I don’t know when I started feeling differently.”
I looked at my sister.
“Maybe you don’t have to figure that out tonight.”
She nodded.
Then she turned and walked back toward the ballroom.
I watched until she disappeared around the corner.
Only then did I return to my grandmother.
Grandma was finishing her tea when I returned.
She studied my face.
“Did you talk?”
“Yes.”
“Was she cruel?”
“Not this time.”
Patricia pushed a plate of untouched dessert toward me.
“Then eat something. You’ve barely had dinner.”
I smiled and took a bite.
Grandma didn’t ask for details.
She seemed to understand that some conversations were too difficult to repeat immediately.
Rachel’s husband had taken the children upstairs to their room, and she went to join them. Patricia arranged a car for herself and Grandma.
I offered to ride with them.
Grandma shook her head.
“You go home, sweetheart. I’ll call you tomorrow.”
I hugged her carefully.
“Thank you for standing up for me.”
She held my face between her hands.
“I should have been doing it long before today.”
I kissed her cheek.
