Someone near the back lowered her eyes.
Diane pressed her lips together.
“Your father wanted you to succeed.”
“He wanted me to believe that whatever I achieved was never enough.”
The room fell quiet again.
Then Levi turned directly toward his mother.
“And here’s something you’ve conveniently forgotten. After Dad died, you suggested naming my future son after him.”
Diane looked away.
“I remember.”
“I told you no. I made that decision years before Mel was pregnant.”
He gestured toward the blanket.
“You knew how I felt before you ordered that. You knew before you told your friends. And you knew before you stood here and announced our son’s name.”
Diane’s face tightened.
“Families shouldn’t discuss private matters in front of strangers.”
Levi looked at her.
“Then you shouldn’t have publicly announced a decision we never made.”
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Then Diane turned toward me again.
