Then Lucia’s little voice trembled.
“Then Mommy stopped smiling. Then Mommy went away.”
Elena did not interrupt.
She let the words pour out like water finally breaking through a dam.
The next day, Valentina asked why their mother had to go.
Elena did not have a perfect answer. She only told her that sometimes bad things happen to good people, and no one knows why. But it did not mean Isabella wanted to leave.
“No mother wants to leave her children,” Elena said. “Never.”
That night, Mia remembered the smell of Isabella’s hair.
Jasmine.
She said she tried to remember it, but could not.
Elena stroked her hair and whispered, “You’ll remember with your heart.”
Then Mia cried.
Not silent tears.
