Chapter 12 - The Wheel That Wouldn’t Stay On
Mark arrived the following Saturday with one small toolbox.
No giant presents.
No camera.
He stopped at the door.
“Is this still a good time?”
“Yes.”
Luke met him holding the broken car.
Mark sat at the kitchen table.
“Show me.”
For twenty minutes, they worked on the wheel.
It fell off twice.
The third time, Luke knocked the screwdriver onto the floor.
His whole body went still.
Mark noticed.
I watched him notice.
“It’s okay,” he said.
Luke didn’t move.
Mark picked up the screwdriver.
“Tools fall. That’s why we don’t wear sandals when we fix stuff.”
Luke looked at his sneakers.
Then at Mark’s.
A small smile appeared.
Owen climbed into the next chair.
“Can I hold that?”
Mark handed him the closed box of spare screws.
“You’re in charge of these.”
It wasn’t a miracle.
It was half an hour at a kitchen table.
But when Mark left, Owen waved without being prompted.
That afternoon, Mark asked to speak to me alone.
We stood on the porch.
“I started counseling.”
I kept my face still.
“Okay.”
“You don’t believe me.”
“I believe you attended an appointment.”
He looked down.
“Fair.”
A delivery truck rattled past.
He waited until it was gone.
“I told myself you made me cruel.”
My throat tightened.
“And?”
“And the counselor asked whether I’d been kind to you when I thought you couldn’t give me anything I wanted.”
I looked toward the yard.
“I didn’t know how to answer.”
“I do.”
“I know.”
He swallowed.
“I’m sorry for the toast.”
“And the invitation?”
“Yes.”
“And the video?”
He nodded.
“I told my cousin to post it. I wanted people on my side.”
“Our sons don’t need sides.”
“I understand that now.”
“You’re starting to.”
For once, he didn’t correct me.
He took out his phone.
“I wrote something. To the people who were at the shower. No pictures. No names for the boys.”
He handed it over.
It admitted he had insulted me, encouraged the cropped video, and shared a private family situation to make himself look better.
It didn’t excuse my silence.
It didn’t need to.
“Send it if you mean it,” I said.
He pressed the button.
Then his phone rang.
Emily.
He answered, listened, and went pale.
“What hospital?”
May you like
My stomach dropped.
He was already reaching for his keys when he said, “She thinks the baby’s coming.”
