For almost forty minutes, my phone remained silent on the kitchen counter.
Then the doorbell rang.
Mason and I looked at each other.
I already knew.
Through the glass beside the front door, I saw my parents standing on the porch.
Mom wore oversized sunglasses even though the porch was shaded.
Dad held several printed pages in one hand.
The top page was my spreadsheet.
He pressed the doorbell again and kept his finger on it.
The chime rang through the house until Mason opened the door.
Dad tried to step past him.
Mason did not move.
“We need to speak to our daughter,” Dad said.
“You can speak from there.”
“This is family business.”
“So is her son’s birthday.”
I walked into the entryway before the argument could grow louder.
Mom removed her sunglasses.
Her eyes were dry.
“Lillian,” she said, “your father is very upset.”
I almost laughed.
“Did you think about how upset I might be when you said you didn’t recognize Noah?”
Her mouth tightened.
“That message was private.”
“It was sent to me.”
“You know what I mean.
It wasn’t meant to become some financial declaration of war.”
Dad lifted the spreadsheet.
“What is this number?”
“The total.”
“It can’t be accurate.”
“It is linked to the statements.
Every line has a date, amount, account, and confirmation number.”
“You added interest?”
“No.”
“Fees?”
“Only the fees I paid for you.”
He flipped through the pages faster, searching for an error large enough to rescue his pride.
Mom stepped closer to the doorway.
“We came here to fix this,” she said.
I looked beyond them toward the driveway.
They had arrived without a card, a gift, or even the pretense that Noah’s birthday mattered.
“You came because the payments stopped.”
“That is not fair.”
“Where is his birthday card?”
Mom blinked.
Dad lowered the papers.
“We didn’t have time for that.”
“You had time to print six years of bank transfers.”
“Seven,” I corrected.
His face darkened.
From the backyard, a burst of laughter carried through the house.
Several guests had moved inside to escape the heat.
Claire stood near the kitchen entrance with Noah in her arms.
She was trying not to listen and failing.
Dad noticed her.
