My Mother

afternoon, Lily was awake enough to ask for apple juice.

It was the best sentence I had ever heard.

Her voice was small behind the mask. “Mommy?”

I leaned close. “Yes, baby?”

“Is Grandma mad?”

I felt Daniel still behind me.

My heart cracked.

“No, sweetheart,” I said, because I refused to put adult poison inside her little body. “Grandma is not allowed to continue reading …