Chapter 182

The afternoon was unusually quiet.

Ruby sat on the couch between her Mommy and Mama, her tiny legs swinging back and forth as she hugged her stuffed dumpling plushie.

Daycare had apparently given her a lot to think about.

Jennie was scrolling through her phone while Lisa was absentmindedly playing with Ruby’s fluffy hair.

Suddenly Ruby looked up.

“Mama?”

“Hmm?” Lisa answered.

“Our teacher said not all chapters in stories are happy.”

Lisa smiled.

“That’s true, baby.”

Ruby frowned thoughtfully.

“She said some chapters are sad.”

“Also true.”

The four-year-old was silent for a moment before asking the question neither woman expected.

“Mama had sad chapter too?”

Lisa froze.

Jennie looked up from her phone.

Ruby tilted her head.

“Did Mama ever have a really sad chapter?”

The smile on Lisa’s face disappeared.

A memory she hadn’t visited in years surfaced immediately.

Jennie already knew which chapter Ruby had unknowingly opened.

Lisa looked down at their daughter.

“Yeah, baby.”

Ruby blinked.

“Really?”

Lisa nodded.

“A very sad one.”

“What happened?”

Lisa glanced at Jennie.

Jennie offered a small reassuring smile.

“It’s okay.”

Lisa took a deep breath.

“That chapter happened when Mommy and Mama were in college.”

Ruby immediately scooted closer.

The universal signal that story time had begun.

“Mommy and Mama were dating already?” she asked.

“Oh, very much dating.”

Ruby giggled.

“Were you already whipped?”

Jennie snorted.

Lisa gasped dramatically.

“Who taught you that word?”

“You.”

“Ah.”

Jennie laughed.

“Continue, Mama.”

Lisa sighed.

“One day Mommy was driving home after class.”

Ruby listened carefully.

“The weather was really bad. It was raining a lot.”

Lisa’s voice became quieter.

“And then…”

She swallowed.

“Mommy got into a car accident.”

Ruby’s eyes widened.

“What?”

Lisa nodded.

“It was a very bad accident.”

The little girl immediately turned to Jennie.

“Mommy!”

Jennie smiled softly.

“I’m okay, baby.”

Ruby launched herself into Jennie’s lap anyway.

Just to make sure.

Jennie kissed the top of her head.

Lisa continued.

“Mama didn’t know right away.”

“What happened then?”

Lisa remembered the phone call.

The panic.

The fear.

The drive to the hospital.

The endless thoughts.

She still hated remembering it.

“I got a call.”

Her voice cracked slightly.

“They told me Mommy was hurt and in the hospital.”

Ruby’s smile disappeared.

“What did Mama do?”

“I ran.”

“Ran?”

“I don’t even remember how I got there.”

Jennie reached over and squeezed Lisa’s hand.

Even after all these years.

Lisa smiled weakly.

“When I got there, Mommy was unconscious.”

Ruby gasped.

“Sleeping?”

“Not exactly.”

The child immediately hugged Jennie tighter.

Lisa looked away briefly.

That image still haunted her.

The hospital bed.

The machines.

The bruises.

The uncertainty.

The terrifying possibility.

“What did the doctors say?” Ruby whispered.

“They said Mommy would probably be okay.”

“Probably?”

Lisa laughed sadly.

“Yeah.”

Ruby didn’t like that answer.

At all.

“Probably is scary.”

“It was very scary.”

Lisa stared at their intertwined hands.

“For three days, Mommy didn’t wake up.”

Ruby’s jaw dropped.

“THREE DAYS?”

“Three days.”

The little girl looked horrified.

Lisa nodded.

“I barely slept.”

“You didn’t?”

“Nope.”

“Didn’t eat?”

“Not much.”

Jennie smiled.

“Your Mama was stubborn.”

“I was worried.”

“You were impossible.”

“I was in love.”

Jennie couldn’t argue with that.

Ruby looked between them.

“So Mama was sad because Mommy got hurt?”

Lisa nodded.

“Very sad.”

“Did Mama cry?”

Lisa laughed.

“A lot.”

“A lot lot?”

“A lot lot lot.”

Ruby looked genuinely heartbroken for little-college-Lisa.

Then she asked quietly,

“Were you scared Mommy would leave?”

The room fell silent.

Lisa’s smile vanished completely.

Because that was exactly it.

Not leave for another person.

Not leave because of a breakup.

Leave forever.

Lisa pulled Ruby into her lap.

“Yeah, baby.”

Her voice was barely above a whisper.

“I was terrified.”

Ruby wrapped her tiny arms around Lisa’s neck.

Lisa hugged her tightly.

“I kept thinking about all the things I still wanted to do with Mommy.”

“Like what?”

“Grow old together.”

Jennie’s eyes immediately softened.

“Travel together.”

A kiss to Ruby’s hair.

“Build a family.”

Another squeeze.

“And maybe someday have a little dumpling.”

Ruby blinked.

“Me?”

Lisa smiled.

“Exactly you.”

Ruby looked at Jennie.

“If Mommy left…”

She couldn’t even finish the sentence.

Jennie immediately cupped her cheek.

“But I didn’t.”

Ruby nodded rapidly.

“You didn’t.”

“Nope.”

“What happened after three days?”

Lisa’s smile returned.

“The best thing ever.”

“What?”

“Mommy woke up.”

Ruby cheered so loudly that both women laughed.

“YAY!”

Lisa chuckled.

“The first thing Mommy said was…”

Jennie groaned.

“No.”

“Oh yes.”

Ruby gasped.

“What did she say?”

Lisa grinned.

“She looked at me and said-“

Lisa lowered her voice dramatically.

“‘Why do you look so ugly?'”

Ruby burst into laughter.

Jennie covered her face.

“I had a concussion!”

“You insulted me after I cried for three days!”

Ruby was laughing so hard she nearly fell off the couch.

“MOMMY!”

Jennie pointed accusingly.

“I was confused!”

“You were rude.”

“I was injured!”

Lisa and Ruby immediately high-fived.

Traitorous mother-daughter alliance.

Jennie shook her head.

“Unbelievable.”

Eventually the laughter settled.

Ruby became thoughtful again.

“So that’s Mama’s saddest chapter?”

Lisa nodded.

“Yep.”

Ruby hugged both of them.

“Then it’s okay.”

Jennie smiled.

“Why?”

Ruby beamed.

“Because sad chapter isn’t the ending.”

Neither woman expected that answer.

Lisa felt her throat tighten.

Jennie looked suspiciously emotional.

Ruby continued proudly.

“Teacher said stories keep going.”

She pointed at herself.

“And now you have me.”

Lisa immediately pulled her into a crushing hug.

“Yeah, baby.”

Jennie joined the hug.

“Our favorite chapter.”

Ruby giggled.

“The dumpling chapter?”

“The dumpling chapter.”

“The duck onesie chapter?”

“That too.”

“The Mommy’s baby chapter?”

Lisa groaned.

Jennie laughed.

“My personal favorite.”

Ruby smiled and snuggled between them.

The sad chapter still existed.

Lisa would probably always remember those three terrifying days.

But Ruby was right.

It wasn’t the ending.

It was just one chapter.

And every chapter after that had led her here-

Curled up on a couch with the love of her life and their little dumpling, safe and warm between them.

A much happier chapter indeed.