Chapter 25 - leo asked the question i feared
Leo was twelve now.
He had grown taller.
His voice had changed.
And sometimes, when I looked at him, I could still see the little boy standing beneath the chandeliers with a phone in his hand.
One evening, he asked me:
“Mom, why didn't you leave Dad immediately?”
I stopped washing the dishes.
“Where did that come from?”
“School.”
I waited.
“Someone said if a husband cheats, the wife should leave immediately.”
I dried my hands.
“Sometimes she should.”
“Then why didn't you?”
I looked at him.
“Because I had to understand what was happening.”
“You didn't know?”
“No.”
He frowned.
“I thought you knew.”
“I knew something was wrong. I didn't know how much.”
He was quiet.
Then he asked:
“Were you embarrassed?”
The question hurt more than I expected.
“Yes.”
“Because of Dad?”
“Because everyone knew before I was ready for everyone to know.”
He nodded.
Then he asked:
“Do you hate him?”
I shook my head.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because hate would keep me tied to him.”
Leo thought about that.
“Do you love him?”
I took a breath.
“Not the way I used to.”
He accepted that.
Then he said:
“I think Dad is different now.”
“He is.”
“Do you trust him?”
I looked at my son.
“Some things.”
“Not everything?”
“Trust isn't a switch, Leo.”
He nodded.
“It comes back slowly.”
That night, I realized Leo wasn't trying to decide whether his father deserved forgiveness.
He was trying to understand whether people could become different after doing terrible things.
I hoped the answer would eventually be yes.
But I also wanted him to learn the other half.
May you like
Change never means forgetting.
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