Chapter 18 - LUCAS SAYS HE’S SORRYLucas apologized to Emily one rainy evening.
No adult ordered it.
That mattered.
He stood outside her room holding Olivia’s little blue Jaguar.
“I took it.”
Emily stared.
“I know.”
“I’m sorry.”
She did not answer.
Lucas extended the car.
Emily took it.
Then:
“You sat on me.”
His face crumpled.
“I know.”
“My knees hurt.”
“I know.”
“Why did you laugh?”
Lucas started crying.
“Mom laughed.”
That was the answer.
Children borrow reactions before they understand them.
Emily looked angry.
Thomas watched from the hallway but did not intervene.
Lucas whispered:
“I thought it was a game.”
“It wasn’t.”
“I know now.”
Silence.
Then Emily said:
“I’m still mad.”
Lucas nodded.
“Okay.”
No forced hug.
No instant forgiveness.
Thomas was proud of both.
Later Lucas asked him:
“Does Emily have to forgive me?”
“No.”
“Will she?”
“I don’t know.”
Lucas looked worried.
“What do I do?”
“Be better.”
“For how long?”
Thomas smiled.
“That’s not how being better works.”
Lucas groaned.
May you like
But he understood eventually.
Apology was not a purchase.
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