Promises and Pomegranates by Sav R. Miller

knew from the second I laid eyes on you, that you were a force to be
reckoned with. There was immediately so much strength and tenacity, and
fire in your beautiful eyes, present in your lungs every time you cried. I
worked overtime to undermine any potential advantage you could have over
me.”
I don’t say anything, knowing she’s not looking for a response.
“I was jealous of a baby,” she says. “My baby, because I knew she was
going to grow up with opportunities and beauty and grace I was never
allowed. Everyone who met you was so captivated by this... aura you had.
This brightness that drew them to you. And you were good at everything you
tried; reading, writing, creating. Even gardening, which I never mastered.
Sometimes it seemed like you’d just walk into a room, and plants would
bloom.”
She turns a page, exhaling softly. “It felt like I was living in my
daughter’s shadow, and your father certainly was never any help. He told you
to jump, and you asked how high, desperate to be the perfect little girl in that
man’s eyes.”
My cheeks burn, shame settling on my shoulders, weighing me down like
a cement brick.
“When your father met Kal, we could tell he needed... well, a lot. His
mother had just died, he had no other family. So, we took him in, made him
feel like one of our own.” Swallowing, she finally looks up, meeting my gaze
across the room. “I remember the first time I felt like maybe he was confused
about his feelings toward me, trying to work through them, and I... took
advantage of that. Soaked up all the attention he gave me, because your father
certainly didn’t give me any. It felt good, after I had you and Ariana, to feel
wanted again.”
“When I found out he’d decided to marry you, I just... couldn’t believe it.
Not because you weren’t lovable, but here you were, doing exactly what I’d
always been afraid of: taking everything that once belonged to me.”
“Is that why you pushed the kidnapping story? To punish me for
something that wasn’t even my fault?”
She nods. “I thought if the world turned against your union, maybe he’d
give you back. Even had your father send men out to rough you up, thinking
maybe Kal would realize he was in over his head.”
A lead weight drops into my throat at the revelation, and I suck in a deep
gulp of air, trying to ignore the initial shock settling in. Of course, Papá