My SIL Refused to Let Our Daughter Be a Flower Girl – At the Wedding, I Realized She Was the Only Child Left Out
“What?”
“You know, you’d all meet for rehearsals and stuff. You’d be around Jenna more.”
I finally understood him.
“He thought I’d find out if I hung out with Jenna.”
Ryan nodded.
For a second, I genuinely couldn’t speak.
All the pieces clicked into place.
Marcus had been protecting himself.
That was why my daughter couldn’t be a flower girl.
I found him near the parking lot.
“What you did was really selfish.”
He looked at me. “You know.”
“Yes. Ryan told me.”
He closed his eyes.
“I should have learned all this from you.”
“You’re right.”
“Jenna offered to put Sophie back in, and you said no. You hurt your own daughter.”
“And I’m sorry.”
“You said no to something that made her happy because you were afraid I’d find out about the loan.”
He didn’t answer.
“Say it.”
“Okay, yes.”
My eyes filled.
“She spent a month thinking your sister changed her mind.”
He looked at me.
“I thought she would get over it.”
“She is eight. It means the world to her.”
“It was one wedding role. She may have others.”
“It was not one wedding role.”
I pointed toward the venue.
“She asked me today why her aunt lied to her. She watched every other kid get included and realized she was singled out.”
Marcus’s face changed. “I didn’t think of it like that.”
“Exactly. You were only thinking of yourself.”
I was crying now.
“You didn’t think about her. You thought about whether I might ask you uncomfortable questions.”
“I was trying to help Ryan.”
“I am not angry that you helped Ryan.”
He blinked.
“I probably would have helped too. I am angry that you didn’t ask me.”
“I messed up.”
“You lied, hid things from me, and then when your daughter got caught in the fallout, you decided her feelings were less important than your secret.”
“I’m really sorry.”
“You should be.”
I went back inside.
Sophie was sitting with my mother-in-law.
I knelt beside her. “Hey.”
She looked at me. “Am I in trouble?”
My heart cracked. “No. Absolutely not.”
“Then why is everyone mad?”
“Because grown-ups made some bad choices.”
I looked toward Jenna.
“Your aunt was angry about something that had nothing to do with you.”
Sophie frowned. “Is that why she took me out?”
I didn’t know how to answer honestly without dumping adult problems on her.
So I said, “Sometimes grown-ups make unfair decisions when they’re angry.”
