At midnight my sister tried to bring her three children into my apartment with my mother’s key, but when she yelled at me “family helps each other”, I had already changed the lock and was waiting for her downstairs to put a stop to it.

“I only said that because I believed you had a bigger heart than this, and I thought you would realize that family comes before rules,” she stammered.

“You didn’t say it because of my heart, you said it because you were convinced that my ‘no’ carried no weight and that I would eventually break under pressure,” I said.

Outside the glass doors, the yellow headlights of a large black van pulled up to the curb and the driver hopped out to assist with the luggage.

Frank cleared his throat and stepped forward with a cautious look on his face as he gestured toward the waiting vehicle.

“The shuttle is here for your party, ma’am, and I would be more than happy to help you get these bags loaded so the children can get to bed,” he offered.

Hudson let out a long yawn and leaned his head against his mother’s leg while Tessa took a small step toward me with a confused look in her eyes.

I reached out and gently patted the girl’s shoulder because I wanted her to know that none of this adult mess was her responsibility.

“Tessa, I want you to know that I love you very much and I hope you have a wonderful time in Florida tomorrow,” I whispered to her.