know.”
Owen, who had been quiet through most of everything, said:
“Grandma, Dad said people can make mistakes.”
Mom smiled weakly.
“Your dad is right.”
Owen nodded.
“But he also said mistakes don’t mean you don’t have to apologize.”
Mom laughed through her tears.
“That sounds exactly like your father.”
I smiled.
“Unfortunately.”
Everyone laughed.
Even Brooke.
It wasn’t magically fixed.
Families don’t work that way.
One dinner doesn’t erase years of resentment.
One apology doesn’t repair every wound.
But something had changed.
The rules had changed.
A month later,
