For a moment, I didn’t see the little girl who used to crawl into my bed whenever thunderstorms shook the windows.
I saw a young woman.
Beautiful.
Confident.
Excited.
And completely unaware that her life was about to change.
“Oh, sweetheart,” I whispered.
Her smile softened.
“Do I look okay?”
I laughed.
“Okay?”
She spun around.
“Mom!”
“You look incredible.”
She hugged me.
I held her a little longer than usual.
She noticed.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“You’re acting weird.”
“I’m your mother. I’m allowed to act weird.”
She laughed.
Then the doorbell rang.
Ryan had arrived.
I opened the door and found him standing there in a dark suit, holding flowers.
“Mrs. Bennett.”
“Ryan.”
“Thank you for letting me take Iris.”
I raised an eyebrow.
“That’s a dangerous sentence.”
He smiled nervously.
Then he saw Iris.
His expression completely changed.
“Wow.”
Iris blushed.
I smiled.
For the first time in a long time, everything felt right.
I took photographs of them together.
I photographed Iris alone.
I took one of the two of them standing on the porch, smiling beneath the porch light.
Then they left.
I watched their car disappear down the street.
And for a few minutes, I simply stood there.
I should have felt relieved.
Instead, I felt uneasy.
I couldn’t explain why.
Maybe it was instinct.
Maybe it was the memory of another night, years earlier.
A night I had spent trying to convince myself that keeping a secret was an act of love.
