Chapter 1: She Already Had Her Purse
Aunt Diane had bingo night.
I had a flight in three hours and nowhere else to go.
I showed up at her door with Mia asleep in her carrier and Jaylen holding onto my sleeve, both of us barely inside the doorway before she started asking questions I didn't have time to answer properly.
"What are y'all doing here?"
I pulled the carrier further into the living room, talking fast.
"Listen, Aunt Diane, I need you to watch the kids.
I'm flying out with my boyfriend.
My flight leaves in three hours."
She looked at me like I'd asked her to babysit a stranger's children off the street.
"You never asked me!"
"I got nowhere else to take them."
"Not my problem."
I stood there holding the carrier handle, waiting for the part where she softened, the part where she always softened, because she always had before.
It didn't come.
She grabbed her purse off the side table and walked past both kids without glancing at either of them, heading straight for the door.
"Where are you going?"
She didn't even turn around.
"Bingo night."
The door clicked shut behind her.
I looked down at Jaylen, who was staring up at me with the same expression I probably had on my own face.
I had three hours and an empty living room.
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What would you do if family walked out on your children like that?
Comment **"NEXT"** if you want Part 2 — and tell me what you think Aunt Diane should have done.
