[ELARA'S POV]
Sofia showed up on a Tuesday.
I was in the living room. Alexander was doing tummy time. Big Julian was destroying a tower of blocks. Isla was coloring. Patricia had the day off.
Relatively peaceful. For five minutes. Then the doorbell rang.
I looked through the peephole and my entire body went cold.
My mother. Standing on my doorstep. Looking exactly the same as she had when she'd left twenty-three years ago.
Older. But the same. Blonde hair. Blue eyes. That smile that never reached all the way.
I didn't open the door.
"Elara?" She called through it. "I know you're there. I can hear the children."
"Go away."
"Please. I just want to talk."
"You had twenty-three years to talk. You didn't want to then. Nothing's changed."
"Everything's changed. I'm different. I'm sober. I'm trying to make amends." Her voice cracked. Probably fake. "Please. Five minutes."
Against every instinct I opened the door. Didn't invite her in. Just stood in the doorway blocking her.
