My Mom Said, “Everyone Will Get Something Small.” My Boy Got Socks. My Sister’s Kids Got Phones. He Asked, “Did I Do Something Wrong, Mommy?” I Just Hugged Him. That Night, I Smiled… And Removed Everyone From My HEALTH INSURANCE PLAN

“Are they here, Mama?”

My heart broke a little more each time I had to say, “Not yet.”

By three o’clock, all his friends had arrived. The bounce house was full of squealing children, but my family? Nothing. Not a call, not a text—complete silence. I called my mother—straight to voicemail. I called my father—same thing. Tyler didn’t even have his read receipts on, so I couldn’t tell if he’d seen my messages. Bethany, who was twenty‑three and still lived at home with our parents, sent a brief text around four.

“Sorry, something came up.”

“Something came up.” That was it. No explanation. No apology to Lucas. Just those three words.

I smiled through the party, took photos, helped Lucas blow out his candles. But inside, I was dying. Watching him glance at the door every few minutes, hope fading from his eyes each time, was torture.

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