“Being your mother was never a punishment,” I said into their hair. “Do you hear me? Never.”
“But you had to quit school,” Ethan said.
“Yes, I did.”
“And you worked all the time,” Noah added.
“Yes.” I pulled back enough to see their faces. “I’m not going to lie and say those years were easy. I was scared a lot. There were nights I cried in the diner’s walk-in freezer so nobody would see.”
They stared at me.
“But do you know what got me out of bed every single morning?”
Neither of them spoke.
“You two.”
I wiped Noah’s cheek with my thumb. “Do I sometimes wonder what life would have looked like if I’d gone to college? Of course I do. But wondering about another life doesn’t mean I’d trade this one.”
“Your father made his choice,” I continued. “My parents made theirs. None of that was ever your fault.”
