Can we talk?”
She looked up at him, her eyes welling with tears.
“Why did you give Catherine that note?”
“Because I heard you, Daddy. On the phone. You were talking about her.”
“You said you loved Catherine, but you were afraid.”
Mark’s face softened.
“Oh, Emma.”
“You said you didn’t want me to be replaced!” she burst into tears, finally revealing what she’d heard and what her eight-year-old heart had absorbed from a grown-up conversation.
Mark pulled her into his arms.
She nodded against his chest, sobbing.
“Emma, listen to me,” Mark said, the emotion clear in every word. “I was talking to Aunt Lisa yesterday. I told her I love Catherine more than anything.
But I also told her I was worried about having another baby someday because I didn’t want you to ever feel like you weren’t my priority anymore.”
“Yes, baby. Catherine and I talked about maybe having a child together in the future. And I was scared that if we did, you’d think I loved you less.
That’s what I was afraid of, Emma. I was afraid of hurting you.”
Emma’s face crumpled.
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