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“Yeah, she’s really nice,” Mark said

“What grade are you in, Mark?” Holly asked him I looked at her and in that moment if no other, I knehy I loved her sothat aside to make this little boy feel more comfortable

“I’rade,” he told her “I can read now”

“That’s a,” Holly said “Maybe soets old enough”

I wanted to get up and hug her tight She was a about the look on her face told me that she wasn’t as i Holly’s vision of him and said, “Here, let me cut that meat for you”

“I can do it, Mom,” he told her

“LetYou knoorry about you,” she said I couldn’t see Mark’s face, but I i his eyes Even a seven year old had to be able to see through his mother’s act I was troubled by the fact she seee some kind of relationship with the boy she had lately insisted on calling my son

I looked over at Holly as helping Eric get a drink from his sippee cup When she looked at me, I smiled She didn’t suess that was a start

HOLLY

We sat down at the dinner table and for a few minutes Aiden and Mark had talked about Mark’s school and his friends I was okay with that, except for the looks that Cecile was givingThe little boy eet, surprisingly so since he had Cecile for a otten there and I felt bad for not trying to ain that none of this was his fault I started talking to hi and how maybe, someday he could help Eric learn how to read He seeain what a nut job she hen she leaned across hi his meat He told her that he didn’t need her to It was so obvious what she was doing that even Aiden figured it out I could tell by the look on his face and the way he tried to s back, but I was still too mad at him to even force one

While she put on her little show on her side of the table, I fed Eric onto do some positive self-talk inThat could likely be because Cecile suddenly wouldn’t shut-up She’d stopped fussing with her own son and now she was focused onto make it look like I was a bad h her BS

“Oh, Holly! I think he needs his chin wiped Do you have a wipee? Oh, Holly! He’s fallen over sideways! Oh, Holly! Do you think he’s really old enough for Zwieback toast?” The whole ti me about how to feed my own son, my husband didn’t say a word to stop her He should have been defendingand that I didn’t need her input Instead, the coward just stuffed his mouth with roast and potatoes Cecile droned on, ner labels she wears, and by the tiht be hoot up and used a feipeys to clean Eric out of his high chair before I went to put the dishes away

I was going to sit him in the playpen when Cecile said, “Oh, can I hold the little cherub, please? How are his poor little arms?”

I continued to hold onto him as I said, “Did you happen to tell Aiden that you were the one who burnt hi else, why not that? Cecile narrowed her eyes atAiden with a fake sad expression

“I bumped into the table, I felt so bad I did counsel Holly on leaving the coffee so close to such a young baby I hardly slept the whole night worrying about hiet in touch with Holly so I could check on him I tried to find out from the staff at the café, but they were all very rude to ed to work a tear into the corner of her eye

Aiden looked at me and then back at Cecile like he was confused by the news

“I don’t understand What were you doing at the café, Cecile?”