"I just don't understand how you could leave me behind," I heard her sob.

"I know talking every day over the phone isn't the same as me holding you like this, my stars," I heard dad say back. "And I'm sorry it hurt you that I was so far away. But I love you so much and I promise you it had nothing to do with you losing your leg, you goose. You were my darling Callie before and still the exact same beautiful girl now, just older. And if you had wanted to move with me, I wouldn't have complained in the slightest. But I know you wanted to stay with mum, which is why I didn't argue about it."

"But how could you just go? Couldn't you have asked Jessica to just stay? I get you didn't love mum anymore—"

"I have always loved your mother and always will. Even if I knew we weren't good together anymore. But your mum and I were in this destructive loop and hurting Jessica. I made the decision that I was a better father to you both when I was in a stable relationship with her instead of your mum. And your mum agreed on that too. It wasn't just me. But Jessica... she was always so anxious being here near your mum."

"But how was keeping her happy by moving more important than staying here where I needed you?"

Dad was quiet at that one and I wished I could see his face to know how he was reacting.

I understood where Callie was coming from. Sometimes I wondered why mum and Cal couldn't have eventually moved down to Melbourne so we could have all been closer. Sometimes I wondered why mum and dad couldn't have just separated and not moved on to anyone else, just being our parents. But the reality was, at age ten, Cal and I had grown up enough that we didn't depend on them as much anymore. We had our own friends to hang out with, so when we weren't there, they were alone. And while dad had his friends and mum had hers, their friends also had families and other commitments. Plus, at the end of the day, we all need a bit of love and romance in our lives. Dad may be our dad and mum may be our mum, but they are Cory and Lily first before they are parents. They need to look after their own hearts to be the best parents they can.

But as dad started to reply, a door down the hall opened, and I froze.

"Lexi?" mum said.

Shit.

I craned my head, eyes wide like a kangaroo caught in the headlights.

Mum's eyes narrowed and she silently wiggled a finger to say 'come here'.

Ever so quietly, I crept down the hallway, following her into my room where she had entered.

Behind the closed door, mum said, "Surely I don't have to tell you that eavesdropping is wrong."

"I was just... curious," I mumbled, avoiding their stare. "I want dad and Cal to get along."

"So do I. But this conversation they are having is one that needs to occur between them. If they want us to know what they said, then they can tell us."

Pressing my lips together, I met mum's judging grey gaze. "Surely you're also curious too though... As to what excuses dad will tell someone else for why he gave up on you."

Mum winced at that, eyes dropping to the ground. But then she crossed her arms over her chest and met my gaze once more. "Your father and I are very comfortable with where we stand in our friendship with each other. I know what he told me at the time, and I know what we've said about it since, and I choose to believe those discussions we shared, which are between us."

Heaving a sigh, I relaxed my shoulders and walked over to my bed. "Now that dad's back, mum... are you two going to end up together again?"

Mum, too, now slumped her shoulders, posture going loose again as she joined me on the bed. "Your father just lost someone he loves dearly. Neither of us are thinking about what the future holds. I want to say he and I will never be like that again—never confuse you both. But I also don't plan to keep my distance from him now that he's here because we are good friends. I don't know if that will spark some old feelings or if such feelings will occur again. All I know now is that it's my responsibility to support you and him through your grief and be there in whatever way you both need me."

"Okay..." I mumbled, picking at a fleck of skin on my fingers. "Hey mum?" I then said.

"Yes, Lexi?" mum said, softness returning to her eyes as she stared at me.

"Does it upset you as much as it upsets Callie that I called Jessica mum?"

"Step-mothers are still mothers," mum said back, though there was some indistinguishable emotion swirling in her gaze that she seemed to be holding back from me.

So, again, I asked, "Does it hurt you, mum?"

Realising I had seen through the facade she had tried to erect, she gave me a small shrug. "Nothing I won't get over. I know you are my daughter and that you love me. And if some other woman who was there for your father gave you that relationship you needed from a mother when I couldn't, making you consider her a parent, then I can't blame you for it."

"I'm sorry," I mumbled.

"Don't ever apologise for your feelings, Lex. Ever."

I shrugged, letting my head fall to her shoulder.

Heaving a sigh, mum wrapped her arms around me. "I feel like everyone is getting a lot of the world off their chests today."

"Yeah," I breathed.

"But maybe we will be a closer family after all this."

"Hopefully," I breathed. "Hey mum?"

Mum breathed a laugh and pulled back, looking at me in the same way dad did earlier—the same way even Jess used to look at me. Like they just couldn't believe they had this child in their arms to love and hold. "Hey Lexi?"

"Can you and dad... not get back together?"

Her brows furrowed before she cocked her head to the side. But instead of questioning me, she gave me a small smile and nodded. "Sure, Lex. Sure."

And so I buried myself back into her arms. "Even if Jess was a parent to me mum... I still love you more. You know that, right?"

She squeezed me tight. "But do you love me more than your father?"

Chuckling, I said, "I will never tell."