“My mom gave me this at my birthday. She said he sent it. But I know he didn’t”

            “How do you know that?”

            “I may be a kid, but I’m not stupid” she said in a serious tone. “Don’t tell her I know, because it will make her feel bad. Okay?”

Bette swallowed the lump that formed in her throat, “Okay” she whispered.

            “I don’t care about presents, I just wish he could be here for Christmas. I don’t know what I did that was so bad that he didn’t want me anymore” at this statement, Tina couldn’t help but feel a hurtful grip in her chest. Tears were now falling down her cheeks. Then the kid continued, “I know I’m clumsy and I drop stuff, but I’m not bad. Do you think if I wasn’t so clumsy he would be here with me?”

            “Oh, oh no, Angie. It isn’t a big deal if you drop stuff. Everybody drops stuff” she smiled.

The baby showed her pout and said: “Maybe I’m just not lovable” and it totally broke Bette’s heart.

She swallowed again and spoke with a cracked voice “Angie, of course you are”. Her eyes filled with tears. Her mother was now sobbing silently.

Then Bette continued, “Angie, some people are just really good at loving other people. You know? And some people don’t know how. Nobody ever showed them”

            “Like I showed you how to skate?”

            “Yeah, sort of” Bette giggled.

            “Did your dad love you?” Angelica asked, suddenly.

            “It didn’t seem like he did” Bette admitted after some time.

            “Why not? Were you bad?”

            “I wasn’t good enough… at tennis. It was important to him. He was a tennis coach. A star, actually” she explained.

            “He was your dad. He should’ve loved you even if you couldn’t do stuff perfect”

Bette looked at her, with a small voice, she said: “Can I tell you a secret?”

            “Sure”

            “I remember one time, I was about your age. And my dad was trying to teach me how to perform a serve. And I kept trying, and trying but I’ve never been able to hit the ball with the racket. It was too heavy and it made it difficult for me to hit the ball in time. So I kept missing it and the ball just fell on the ground. And he kept looking more and more mad”