The world might never remember who my mother was, but I did. She was the greatest mom, then and now, and I would never hold her need for true love against her. Pushing her hair away from her face, I shook my head. “I’ll never think that, Mom.” All the hurt that I felt from Victor’s betrayal faded in the face of my mother’s pain. My heartbreak could wait. It was Magnolia who mattered.
My mother stirred in my arms with a sigh. “You have it so lucky, baby.”
The slur in her voice was more pronounced now, and it was accompanied by a deliriously singsong note. She was no longer herself, and knowing it hurt. I looked around and saw the empty bottle of whisky on the center table as well as the stuff she used for taking drugs. The sight of it hurt even more, and it made me want to cry. The pain of having Victor – the boy I loved – slap me was nothing compared to this.
Magnolia’s eyes drifted shut. “You have it so lucky, baby. You’re still so young. No one’s going to think you’re an old hag.”
No, Mom, I thought fiercely. I’m lucky because I have you.
Her voice turned into a sob. “I just want someone to love.”
And you do.
I’m here for you, Mom.
I love you.
But I didn’t say the words because I knew that Magnolia wanted a different kind of love, and it wasn’t wrong for her to want it. It wasn’t.
Fighting to hold back my tears, wanting to be strong for her the way she was once strong for me, I started stroking her hair again. “You’ll find him sooner or later, Mom,” I whispered.
And as long as Magnolia kept kissing frogs, I’d do the same thing, too. I’d prove to the world that kissing frogs didn’t make me – or my mom – a slut.
It was just one way of finding a prince.