Chapter 14 - Dominic Apologized for the Things He Had Missed
One evening, after therapy had become routine and the kitchen felt ordinary again, Dominic made pancakes for dinner because both kids loved breakfast at strange hours.
Lily laughed when he flipped one badly.
Owen rolled his eyes and called it “culinary negligence.”
For the first time in weeks, the house sounded like itself.
After dinner, Dominic sat them down at the table.
“There’s something I need to say.”
They both looked up.
“I should have listened sooner.”
Owen went still.
Lily tilted her head.
“When you told me Grandma was mean,” Dominic said, “I thought I understood. I didn’t. I should have asked more. I should have paid closer attention.”
Neither child spoke.
So he kept going.
“This is important: none of what happened was your fault. Not the noodles. Not the slap. Not the suitcase. Not any of it.”
Lily came around the table and climbed into his lap.
“Okay,” she whispered into his shoulder.
Owen stayed where he was, because he was seven and trying very hard to be composed. But after a moment, he got up too and leaned against Dominic’s side.
Dominic wrapped one arm around each child.
A week later, Lily asked for noodles.
Not because she had forgotten.
Because she hadn’t.
And eating them anyway felt like taking something back.
Dominic made them with butter and a little parmesan.
No red sauce.
Lily took one cautious bite.
Then another.
Then looked up and smiled.
May you like
That small smile felt bigger than most victories Dominic had ever known.
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