Now I really had a new family.

And Daisy was going to hate me.” He pressed his face toward his hands.

“And then I called you Mom.

By accident, that first time, in the hallway.

And I heard myself do it, and it felt — it felt so good, and then it felt like I’d stabbed her.

Like every time I say it, I’m telling her she didn’t matter.

That I replaced her.