Page 107 of From This Moment (After We Fall 4)
“Please sit.” She gestured to one of five big round tables in the room, which were surrounded by chairs sized for kindergarteners. I chose a seat, and she took one across from me, smoothing her skirt behind her legs before she sat down. She was older than me, maybe in her fifties, with chin-length blond hair she kept off her face with a headband and tortoise shell glasses. “I wanted to talk to you about something Abby did today.”
I glanced at the classroom door, which was closed. Abby was sitting right outside of it at a little table in the hall, coloring a picture of a butterfly Mrs. Lowry had given her. “What did she do?”
“She tried to kiss a male classmate. On the lips.”
“She did?”
“Yes. The classmate was less than pleased, shall we say.”
I pictured a six-year-old boy spitting and wiping his mouth on his sleeve to get the cooties off. “Right. Um, I’m sorry about that. Abby is an affectionate person.”
“Yes, well, it goes a little deeper than that, I’m afraid.” Mrs. Lowry adjusted her glasses. “Afterward, when I was explaining to Abby why we don’t kiss our friends at school, she told me that it’s okay to kiss your good friends.”
“Oh, no.” All at once, I saw where this was going.
Mrs. Lowry went on. “She said that her mom and her uncle are good friends and sometimes kiss. She also told the class today that your uncle can be your dad if he marries your mom.”
I closed my eyes. “Did she?”
“Yes. And that she hoped her uncle would marry her mom so he could be her dad. As you can imagine, the children were quite confused by all this, and there was some arguing.”
“I can imagine.”
She paused. “Mrs. Parks, I know only a little about your family, and I’m still getting to know Abby, of course, but is there anything you’d like to share with me that might help me understand her a little better?”
I fortified myself with a deep breath and sat up taller in the little chair. “Abby’s father died when she was three. Recently her father’s identical twin brother returned to town after years away. He’d been in Africa with Doctors Without Borders,” I explained. “Anyway, his return has caused some confusion for Abby.”
Mrs. Lowry nodded. “I’m sure.”
“Uh, in addition,” I went on, wishing I could crawl under the table, “Abby evidently witnessed some…displays of affection between her uncle and me.”
“I see.” And I judge, her tone said.
I shifted in the little chair. “Without going into anything too personal, I’ll simply say that Abby’s uncle and I are very close, and Abby harbors hope that we might someday get married.”
“Is this a possibility?”
“I’m—I’m not sure.” Don’t cry, don’t cry, don’t cry. I steadied myself with another deep breath. “We’ve sort of placed things on hold for now. As you might imagine, certain family members are not supportive of our relationship.”
“Indeed.” She clasped her hands primly on the table.
“Yesterday, her grandmother told her it was wrong, using words like vile and shameful. And even though she likely doesn’t understand those words, she does understand that her grandmother was saying that something Abby wants is bad and can’t happen, and that the…the affection she senses between her uncle and me is wrong.”
“That must have been very difficult for her.”
“Yes. She was very upset. So later, when she asked me if what her Nana said was true, I said it wasn’t. I wanted her to know the truth. But I also didn’t want to give her false hope, so I told her that even though it wouldn’t be wrong for her uncle and I to get married, as of now we are just good friends.”
“Ah.” Mrs. Lowry nodded. “Good friends. Now I understand.”
“I’m very sorry about what happened today, and I will of course speak to her about it and…try to further clarify things.”
“I think that would be a good idea.”
“I’ll also ask her not to talk about this at school anymore, but of course, she’s six. I can’t promise she won’t.”
“I understand.” Her eyes dropped to her clasped hands. “Mrs. Parks, I appreciate your candor in this situation. I know it can’t be easy for you.”
I shook my head, praying I could at least get to the car before I broke down. “It isn’t.”
