“Only if you want to, baby.”
Ellie took the phone.
“Hi, Grandma,” she said softly. Then, after a pause: “I forgive you… but don’t treat me like that again. It was ugly.”
Another pause.
She handed the phone back.
“She said sorry,” she murmured.
Later, Daniel told me:
“I spoke to my mother. I told her if she couldn’t treat Ellie like family, she would lose both of us.”
“Thank you,” I said quietly.
Since then, Carol has changed.
She sends Ellie cards with kittens and stickers. She calls to ask about school and favorite snacks. She even baked her a birthday cake with pink frosting flowers.
I’m still cautious.
I don’t forget easily.
But Ellie?
