My fingers went numb.
“They’d prefer,” I repeated.
His voice shrank with every word.
I looked around the room slowly.
The silk curtains I paid for when Isabella complained about privacy.
The hardwood floors financed through my second mortgage.
The crown molding that pushed my credit card to its limit.
Every inch of that house carried my fingerprints.
My sacrifice.
My love.
“Their way,” I said carefully. “And what way is that?”
He flinched.
“Dad, please don’t do this.”
“Then where should I go?” I asked quietly.
Michael’s face cracked.
“Maybe Aunt Rosa’s,” he said. “Or… we could do something another weekend.”
Another weekend.
Like Christmas was just a scheduling conflict.
I stood up slowly, joints aching from years of carrying more than my share.
“I understand.”
But I was already walking toward the door.
Past framed family photos where my presence faded frame by frame.
Past closets overflowing with Isabella’s coats.
Past a home that no longer felt like one.
My hand wrapped around the cold doorknob.
“Tell Isabella’s parents something for me,” I said.
Michael looked up. “What?”
“Feliz Navidad.”
The December air slapped my face as I stepped outside.
Behind me, Michael called my name once.
Then the door shut.
Final.
I sat in my truck with the engine off, watching Christmas lights glow in windows where I would never again be welcome.
My phone buzzed.
I ignored it.
Instead, I drove.
The streets of South Hills passed by slowly, heavy with memories. Memories of the man I used to be. The father who believed family came first, no matter the cost.
That man had been a fool.
At a red light, I watched a young father loading gifts into his SUV. His kids pressed their faces against the glass, laughing, fogging it with their breath.
Once, that had been Michael and me.
Before Isabella.
Before I became a walking wallet with inconvenient feelings.
Numbers began replaying in my head.
$2,800 every month.
Five years.
$140,000.
More than Maria and I ever saved for retirement.
Gone.
I pressed the gas when the light turned green.
Fifth Street. Where I refinanced my house to fund their down payment.
Lincoln Street. Where I took a second mortgage after Michael lost his job.
“Just temporary,” he’d said.
Isabella had nodded, her $700 purse hanging from her shoulder.
Temporary became permanent.
I pulled into my driveway just after dusk.
The cracked concrete greeted me like an accusation.
Inside, the house felt colder than usual. Quieter. Maria’s photo sat on the mantel, her gentle smile frozen in time.
“I tried,” I said out loud.
The phone rang.
Isabella.
I let it ring twice before answering.
“Dennis,” she said sweetly. “I heard there was a misunderstanding.”
“A misunderstanding?” I repeated evenly.
“My parents are traditional,” she continued. “They expect a certain… atmosphere.”
“And what atmosphere would that be?”
I heard shopping bags rustling in the background.
“Well,” she said lightly, “they’re not used to your cooking. The spices. The music. They’re educated people. They expect intellectual conversation.”
Eight years of swallowed insults rose up like bile.
“The food you ate every Sunday when money was tight?” I asked calmly.
“The tamales you said reminded you of your grandmother?”
“That was different.”
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