Ryan was beside her.
He still had his suit jacket on.
The boutonniere on his chest looked absurdly cheerful.
Neither of them noticed me at first.
“You said you were okay with the candle,” Ryan said.
“You said you were okay with the candle.”
Amelia stared at it.
“You asked if I understood it, Dad.”
Ryan went quiet.
“That’s not the same thing,” she added.
Ryan was saying, “Why didn’t you tell me you felt like this?”
Amelia stared at the candle.
“You didn’t ask.”
“Why didn’t you tell me you felt like this?”
Ryan frowned.
“I ask you things all the time.”
“You ask if school was good.”
He went quiet.
“You ask if I like Aunt Lina’s apartment.”
Another pause.
“You ask if dinner tastes good.”
Ryan looked down.
Amelia’s voice got smaller.
“You don’t ask if I’m mad.”
“I ask you things all the time.”
I stopped several feet away.
Ryan finally said, “Are you mad at me?”
Amelia nodded.
Just once.
Ryan looked at her for a long time.
He took a breath and nodded once. “Okay.”
I had never heard him answer her like that before.
No excuse.
No “someday you’ll understand.”
Just okay.
I had never heard him answer her like that before.
Then Amelia saw me.
“Mom!”
She dropped the candle onto the bench and ran.
I knelt as she crashed into me.
“Mom, I ruined Dad’s wedding.”
“No, baby.”
“I did.”
“You got upset.” I pulled her back enough to see her face. “That is not the same thing.”
“Mom, I ruined Dad’s wedding.”
Ryan stood behind her.
“Annie…”
I looked at him.
“Don’t.”
He stopped.
Amelia wiped her cheeks.
Then, out of nowhere, she said, “Everybody keeps saying there were seven of us.”
I looked at Ryan.
He looked confused too.
Amelia started counting on her fingers.
“Mom. Dad. Me. The other three.”
“Everybody keeps saying there were seven of us.”
She held up both hands, then looked at Ryan.
“But there was gonna be one more.”
An awkward silence took over.
“Does the baby still count in our family?”
Ryan looked away.
Then back at her.
“Yes.”
Amelia nodded, like she had only needed the answer.
“Does the baby still count in our family?”
Behind us, the garden door opened.
Lina stepped outside in her wedding dress.
For the first time that day, nobody seemed to know where to look.
She approached slowly.
“Amelia…”
Amelia moved closer to me.
Lina stopped.
“I’m not trying to replace your mom.”
“I’m not trying to replace your mom.”
Amelia frowned.
“Then why do you say you’re my new mom?”
Lina went completely stone-faced.
“I said bonus mom.”
“That’s still mom.”
Nobody corrected Amelia.
Then she asked the question she’d asked me that morning.
“Are you still Mom’s sister?”
“Then why do you say you’re my new mom?”
Lina looked at me.
