“You’re always behind the camera,” I said.
“Someone has to be.”
“Not today.”
I set up the camera.
Rebecca protested.
“I look exhausted.”
“You look like her mother.”
Sophie smiled.
“Mom, get in.”
Rebecca hesitated.
Then she reached for my sleeve.
“You too.”
We stood together.
The timer blinked.
Ten seconds.
Nine.
Eight.
And when the photograph appeared on the screen, all three of us stared at it.
For one brief moment, we looked like a family.
Rebecca looked at me.
Neither of us said anything.
But something had changed.
That night, after Sophie fell asleep, I finally asked the question I’d carried for twelve years.
“Why did you leave me?”
Rebecca looked down.
“Because I didn’t deserve you.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
She took a breath.
“I cheated on you.”
I froze.
“Once. Right before graduation.”
She wiped her eyes.
“Sophie is his daughter.”
Everything inside me went silent.
