Chapter 6 - The Uninvited Guest
Two years passed. It was now November. Lily was five, a vibrant, talkative little girl who loved dinosaurs and space. Marcus had officially moved in with us, and we were planning our own small, quiet Thanksgiving.
Then, the doorbell rang on a Tuesday evening.
Marcus went to answer it, and I heard a gasp from the hallway. I walked out of the kitchen to find my sister Sarah standing on the welcome mat. She looked older, tired, her designer clothes lacking their usual pristine luster.
"Eleanor," she whispered, her eyes welling with tears. "Please don't close the door."
Marcus looked at me, waiting for my cue. I nodded gently, signaling him to let her in, though I remained standing near the kitchen island, keeping my distance.
"What do you want, Sarah?" I asked, my voice polite but emotionally bulletproof.
"Mom is in the hospital," Sarah choked out, sobbing into a tissue. "It's her heart. The doctors say she might not make it through the winter. She’s... she’s asking for you, Eleanor. She’s been asking for you for months, but she was too proud to say it."
I felt a sudden pang in my chest—a residual echo of the child who wanted her mother’s love. But it was quickly replaced by a profound sense of self-preservation. "Why now, Sarah? Because she’s facing her own mortality?"
"She regrets it!" Sarah cried, reaching out to grab my hand, though I stepped back. "She talks about that Christmas all the time. The family is falling apart, Eleanor. David doesn't talk to me anymore, everyone is arguing over the estate... it's a mess. Mom wants to make peace before... before it's too late. Please bring Lily. She wants to see her granddaughter."
Granddaughter. The word sounded foreign coming from Sarah’s mouth.
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"I will come see Mom," I said after a long silence. "But Lily stays here with Marcus. I will not bring my daughter into a hospital room to be used as a prop for a dying woman’s clear conscience unless I am certain the change is real."
Sarah looked disappointed, but she nodded. "Fine. Just come. Please."
