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“Okay,” Natalie grudgingly agreed.
Miranda held back her grin and tilted her head toward the door, giving Nate the signal they should leave on a high note. “Good night, Natalie.”
“Night.”
Nate kissed Nat on the head, then walked out with Miranda. They headed down the hall to their bedroom.
The second Nate closed the door, he said, “Can you believe her?”
“Actually, yes, I can. One day she finds out she has another sister, who none of us knew about, then a couple days later, a stranger is living in her house.”
“She’s family.”
Miranda gave Nate a look he understood all too well.
He conceded. “You’re right. I just thought the girls would love to meet her, that they’d both embrace her with open arms.”
“Haley is like that. Sweet. Kind. Everyone is a friend. Natalie is more cautious. I don’t like what she did, but I can understand from her perspective that Summer is getting all the attention at a time when she thought the focus would be on her. And we keep treating her like a kid when she’s grown up and we need to let her make her own decisions and mistakes.”
Nate agreed with a nod. “It’s hard to let go. It’s only been a few days. Things will settle down. It will feel like Summer’s always been with us.”
Miranda hoped that happened sooner rather than later. There might be a few more growing pains for Natalie yet.
Nate took her hand. “And how are you feeling about all this?”
Miranda wanted to say that everything was fine. “I know you’re excited to have her here. From what little I’ve learned about her, she seems like a very nice, wonderful woman. She’s accomplished, smart, and always offering to help.”
“But?” Nate held her gaze.
“No ‘but.’ I see so much of you in her. I know you want to make up for lost time.”
“I do. I feel like I owe her that much.”
“She’s your child. I try to imagine what it feels like for you to find her after twenty-five years have passed. I just can’t fathom it.”
“I feel a connection to her. I love her. But I don’t feel like I know her, the way I know our girls. And I want that.”
“I know you do. But it’ll take time. And while you’re doing that, I need you to remember that our girls need you, too.”
“I know that.”
“And yet here we are, with Natalie accusing us of favoring Summer.”
“Isn’t that how it sometimes goes? One child needs you more at times for whatever reason, so you give them the attention they deserve and need. That doesn’t mean you don’t still love the other child and spend time with them. It’s like a marriage. It’s not fifty-fifty all the time. And I know I’ve been guilty of leaving you with eighty percent of the family stuff while I focused on work. I know it’s not fair to you. I know I have making up to do.”
They’d had this discussion before when Miranda had expressed her feelings about Nate neglecting her and taking her for granted. They made it a point now to talk about things and to do more things together. She appreciated that Nate, blinded by his passion for his work, opened his eyes when she needed him to see that the small things he didn’t do were adding up to a big problem in their marriage. He adjusted and made it a point to fix things because he loved her and didn’t want to lose her. He didn’t just say those things; he’d proved it by changing his behavior and doing what she needed him to do to make her feel like she mattered.
“Natalie is letting us know she needs reassurance that she’s still equal in our eyes. Yes, Summer deserves and needs our special attention now because we want her to feel like a real part of the family. But we also need to let Natalie know what’s happening in her life is important, too.”
“Of course it is. I’m excited that she’ll be graduating and going off to college. At the same time, I can’t believe she’s grown up so fast.”
“Then let’s make sure she knows that we want to celebrate her accomplishments and Summer isn’t going to overshadow that or take away from what we have planned.”
“Absolutely. I hope tomorrow they’ll work it out.” Nate gave her a narrow-eyed look. “But right now, I’d like to show my appreciation to my beautiful wife for being so understanding and welcoming to my daughter and also just for being the wonderful woman you are.”
Miranda grinned. “Oh, yeah? And how are you going to do that?”
“I’m going to start with my hands, then my mouth, then I’m going to make love to you until you moan my name.”
