“That should have been discussed before today.”
Mom lowered her voice.
“We thought once you saw the children, you would understand.”
There it was.
Not a request.
A strategy.
They had brought the children because they expected me to feel too guilty to say no in front of them.
“How long were you planning to stay?”
Silence.
“Mom?”
“Until they get back on their feet.”
“How long?”
Lauren must have taken the phone because suddenly her voice replaced Mom’s.
“A few months.”
“A few?”
“Maybe six.”
I laughed.
She became offended.
“What is funny?”
“You arrived expecting to live in my house for half a year without asking me.”
“You have five bedrooms.”
“I have bedrooms because I paid for a house with bedrooms.”
“You don’t even use them.”
“That doesn’t make them community property.”
Derek shouted in the background.
“Tell her I can work for the company.”
