The following months were peaceful.<\/p>\n
Almost too peaceful.<\/p>\n
Margot went back to school.<\/p>\n
Claire returned to work.<\/p>\n
Emmett became absorbed in a new project.<\/p>\n
Life moved forward.<\/p>\n
That is what life does.<\/p>\n
It refuses to remain dramatic simply because something important happened.<\/p>\n
Sometimes the most meaningful changes happen while nobody is watching.<\/p>\n
Claire began spending more time with Margot.<\/p>\n
They developed their own traditions.<\/p>\n
Saturday pancakes.<\/p>\n
Tuesday library trips.<\/p>\n
A ridiculous annual competition to see who could build the tallest gingerbread house.<\/p>\n
Claire always lost.<\/p>\n
Margot never let her forget it.<\/p>\n
One evening, Margot asked me why Claire was not her stepmother.<\/p>\n
I looked at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho told you that?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo one.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why are you asking?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause people at school call her that.\u201d<\/p>\n
I thought for a moment.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you want her to be?\u201d<\/p>\n
Margot shrugged.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat's okay.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe loves Daddy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe loves me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDoes that make her my stepmother?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLabels don't decide relationships.\u201d<\/p>\n
Margot frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen what does?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat people do.\u201d<\/p>\n
She thought about that.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think she's family.\u201d<\/p>\n
I smiled.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat sounds right.\u201d<\/p>\n
The subject disappeared.<\/p>\n
For a while.<\/p>\n
Then came the school assignment.<\/p>\n
Every student had to bring in a photograph of someone important and explain why that person mattered.<\/p>\n
Margot chose Phoebe.<\/p>\n
She brought the picture of her mother holding her as a newborn.<\/p>\n
Her teacher asked whether she wanted to write about her mother.<\/p>\n
Margot said yes.<\/p>\n
The assignment came home on a Thursday.<\/p>\n
I read it at the kitchen table.<\/p>\n
My daughter had been described in eight-year-old handwriting.<\/p>\n
My mother was named Phoebe.<\/p>\n
She died when I was little.<\/p>\n
I don't remember her voice but my family tells me she laughed loudly.<\/p>\n
She liked strawberries and hated tomatoes.<\/p>\n
She loved my dad.<\/p>\n
She loved me.<\/p>\n
Then came a sentence that made me stop.<\/p>\n
I think she would like my family now.<\/p>\n
I looked at Margot.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou wrote this?\u201d<\/p>\n
She nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Claire is in my family.\u201d<\/p>\n
I smiled.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s true.\u201d<\/p>\n
Margot pointed at the paper.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I don't know if Mommy would like everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at her carefully.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
She pushed the paper away.<\/p>\n
Then she asked, \u201cGrandpa, what if Mommy was unhappy before she died?\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt the room grow colder.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy would you think that?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause adults always say she was happy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat doesn't mean she was never scared.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid she have secrets?\u201d<\/p>\n
I hesitated.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLike the letter?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat if the letter says she didn't want me?\u201d<\/p>\n
The question broke something inside me.<\/p>\n
I reached across the table.<\/p>\n
\u201cMargot.\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour mother wanted you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do you know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I knew her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut what if she changed her mind?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe didn't.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI do.\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked down.<\/p>\n
I realized then that the sealed letter had become something larger in her imagination.<\/p>\n
A mystery.<\/p>\n
And mysteries can frighten children.<\/p>\n
Especially when the mystery involves a parent they never knew.<\/p>\n
I called Emmett.<\/p>\n
He came over.<\/p>\n
We sat with Margot.<\/p>\n
He took her hand.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour mother loved you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do you know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I saw it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore I was born?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe wrote Grandpa a letter.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd one for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat if she doesn't want me to read it?\u201d<\/p>\n
Emmett looked at me.<\/p>\n
Then at Margot.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe wanted you to read it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why wait?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause she believed you would understand it better when you were older.\u201d<\/p>\n
Margot frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cI'm already eight.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat's old.\u201d<\/p>\n
Emmett smiled.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt feels old to you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Margot crossed her arms.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can understand things.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know you can.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen can I read it?\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at Emmett.<\/p>\n
He looked at me.<\/p>\n
We had made a promise to Phoebe.<\/p>\n
But Phoebe had also written the letter for her daughter.<\/p>\n
Not for some future adult version of Margot.<\/p>\n
For Margot herself.<\/p>\n
The question was whether eight was too young.<\/p>\n
I did not know.<\/p>\n
That night, after Margot went to bed, Emmett and I talked.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't want to break Mom's promise,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cNeither do I.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I don't want the letter becoming something she fears.\u201d<\/p>\n
I nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is the problem.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat would you do?\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at the locked box.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would keep the promise.\u201d<\/p>\n
He sighed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think so too.\u201d<\/p>\n
We agreed.<\/p>\n
But the next morning, Claire came to me.<\/p>\n
She had heard part of the conversation.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think you should read it.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou do?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Margot isn't asking for gossip.\u201d<\/p>\n
I said nothing.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe is asking whether her mother loved her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe knows.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe knows what we tell her.\u201d<\/p>\n
Claire paused.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut she wants something from Phoebe herself.\u201d<\/p>\n
That was true.<\/p>\n
I looked toward the window.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't want to betray Phoebe.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen don't.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRead it first.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt's sealed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can open it.\u201d<\/p>\n
I shook my head.<\/p>\n
\u201cI promised.\u201d<\/p>\n
Claire sat down.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat if the promise was never meant to be a punishment?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat if Phoebe only wanted Margot to read it when she was capable of understanding it?\u201d<\/p>\n
I thought about that.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe may already be.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe is eight.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut she understands love.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at Claire.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe understands loss too.\u201d<\/p>\n
That afternoon, I took the box out.<\/p>\n
I stared at the envelope.<\/p>\n
Margot's name was still there.<\/p>\n
The ink had faded slightly.<\/p>\n
I almost opened it.<\/p>\n
Then I stopped.<\/p>\n
Not because I believed Margot was incapable of understanding.<\/p>\n
Because I realized the letter was not mine.<\/p>\n
It belonged to her.<\/p>\n
I called Emmett.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe're waiting.\u201d<\/p>\n
He understood.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll right.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut we're going to tell her that the letter exists.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe already did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
I meant something different.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe're going to tell her that it contains her mother's words for her.\u201d<\/p>\n
He was quiet.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat might help.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt might.\u201d<\/p>\n
That evening, we told Margot.<\/p>\n
She listened.<\/p>\n
\u201cMommy wrote it for me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOnly me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen I want to wait.\u201d<\/p>\n
I blinked.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou do?\u201d<\/p>\n
She nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to read it when I'm eighteen.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Mommy said so.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at Emmett.<\/p>\n
He smiled.<\/p>\n
Margot returned to her drawing.<\/p>\n
I felt something release inside me.<\/p>\n
The mystery remained.<\/p>\n
But the fear had disappeared.<\/p>\n
She no longer imagined the letter as a threat.<\/p>\n
She imagined it as a gift waiting for her.<\/p>\n
And that changed everything.<\/p>\n
Years passed.<\/p>\n
Margot grew.<\/p>\n
Nine.<\/p>\n
Ten.<\/p>\n
Eleven.<\/p>\n
Twelve.<\/p>\n
The letter remained locked away.<\/p>\n
Claire kept her promise.<\/p>\n
Emmett kept his.<\/p>\n
I kept mine.<\/p>\n
Sometimes Margot asked about it.<\/p>\n
Sometimes she didn't.<\/p>\n
By fourteen, she stopped asking.<\/p>\n
By fifteen, she barely mentioned it.<\/p>\n
At sixteen, she found the photograph again.<\/p>\n
She held it for a long time.<\/p>\n
Then she asked me something unexpected.<\/p>\n
\u201cGrandpa, do you think Mommy was afraid of dying?\u201d<\/p>\n
I answered honestly.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWere you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDaddy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cClaire?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Margot nodded.<\/p>\n
Then she said, \u201cI'm not afraid anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOf what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOf reading what she wrote.\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked toward the locked cabinet.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think I'm ready.\u201d<\/p>\n
I knew immediately.<\/p>\n
The promise was about to end.<\/p>\n
And whatever Phoebe had written would finally become part of Margot's life.<\/p>\n
The following months were peaceful. Almost too peaceful. Margot went back to school. Claire returned to work. Emmett became absorbed in a new project. Life moved forward. That is what … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4745,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4752","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sharestory"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4752","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4752"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4752\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4764,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4752\/revisions\/4764"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4745"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}