My Daughter Begged Me Not to Get Off the Bus—Minutes Later, My Boyfriend Sent a Photo of My Deed Beside a Contract I Had Never Signed

For that hour, the only thing we needed to solve was multiplication.

PART 8 — Team Lily at the Kitchen Table

Months after the bus ride, Lily and I sat at the kitchen table while she did homework.

I was sorting mail, putting bills in one pile and advertisements in another.

She had decided the scratch paper needed a border of stars before she could use it for sums.

“Mom?”

“Hmm?”

“Can Derek come back here?”