Self Service

Truths

For the past few weeks, Priscilla had planned very little for her own wedding and left the planning to Scott and Penelope who was more than happy to help him. She did ask Phoebe to make her dress; and like she predicted, her sister was ecstatic about doing it.

Priscilla was lying in her mother’s hotel bed, her head in her bosom as the two of them read. “Ma?”

“What, child?”

“I’m going to have a new name tomorrow.”

“I’m aware. And I’m happy.”

Priscilla turned on her back and looked through the skylight at the twinkling stars. She released a sigh, a smile caressing her lips.

“That man is perfect. I love him.”

“I knew you loved him a long time ago, Priscilla.”

Paulina could tell she would get no reading done and marked her page before closing her book and setting it aside. Priscilla had already put her phone to sleep.

She stroked her daughter’s soft hair, looking through the skylight with her. “Do you ever wish you had married my daddy?” Priscilla asked softly.

Paulina was quiet. This was a question she could never prepare herself for. No matter how many times she told herself that eventually one of the girls would ask, she had no right way to answer her.

“I don’t know, Prissy. Sometimes I think should have. I still love Kenneth. It’s not something that will go away. We have four beautiful children together. But I don’t regret for a moment not walking down that aisle. Because love him as I may, he ain’t no good. We deserve better. I asked him to stop coming back, and he did it so easily. It almost broke my heart. But I wouldn’t have let him keep coming back to hurt my babies. He could break my heart so many times over. And I had let him. But I couldn’t let him do that to our babies.”

Priscilla breathed a bemused laugh. “Peter was smarter than I was. Our fifth birthday, I really believed he was going to take me to the zoo. Begged Peter not to go to the game with the boys. You know he told me Daddy wouldn’t come and I should go to the baseball game?”

It hurt Paulina’s heart for her twins that one knew already their father wasn’t going to come and at such a tender age peeped game and that the other had gotten her heart broken for the very first time.

Priscilla wiped her face of fallen tears as the night came rushing back to her.

Priscilla had been sitting on the sofa with her knees in her chest for the past three hours now. She wouldn’t even eat dinner with her mother and sisters although Paulina had tried everything short of forcing her to eat.

After seven, she put her sisters down for bed and came and sat on the sofa with her oldest child, rubbing her arm and pulling her into her lap.

“Why didn’t he come?” Priscilla asked, trying not to cry.

“I don’t know, baby.”

Paulina was mad at Kenneth. Not only for not showing up, but for leaving her to have to deal with a little girl who was crying because of his irresponsibility.

Priscilla laid her head on her mother’s shoulder, and Kenneth came through the door. “Where’s my birthday girl?” he called, setting the cake on the table and coming into the house to pick up his daughter from Paulina.

“Put me down!” she demanded, pushing against his shoulder.

Kenneth put her down and led her to the table. “Look what Daddy got his princess.”