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“Well, you never behaved like this You are not too big for me to knock you down”

Pro slowly sat as she fought a desire to shake her mother violently

Elisha stood up straight and lowered herself into her chair “Fruit sounds nice, Max” She returned her eyes to her ard child “You want fruit?”

“I want you to stop being a doormat to that man”

This made Elisha smile “Oh, honey, how little you understand me And you really don’t know your father at all”

“Maybe if he’d stuck around a little longer…” she seethed

“Honey you’ve got to let it go Max did the best he could by us both But all you see is what he didn’t do”

“No, I was lucky enough to have a real man in my life—”

“And Joe adored you But if you could only see how much you are like your father”

Pro leaped to her feet again “I a like him!”

Elisha shter “Personality-wise, you are exactly like him All fire and hot However, he’s cooled down, mellowed It wouldn’t hurt you to calm down some too”

Pro slowly returned to her seat, just as Max came out with a plate of fruit It was not only cut in bite-sized pieces, but each of the slices had been artistically cut into shapes They resembled animals, flowers, and even a rather impressive elephant

Max placed the fruit down and Pro stared at it An unbidden tear suddenly came from her eye

“Do you like it, Pro?” Max beamed “I used to cut them like this for you when you were little”

Pro stared up in disbelief at her father, juain, and ran to the bathroo the door as she went