It wasn't a matter of timing. It was a matter of priority. My father cared too much about face, and his rigid thinking meant his own family always paid the price.
"Those things are in the past." She brushed aside decades of neglect with a single sentence. "Like your dad said, move in with us. Living together is convenient. Isn't that good?"
*Convenient?* Convenient for whom?
When I didn't respond, she offered another solution. "Then your dad and I will move out and rent a place. We can renovate the old house for you and Aria."
"Mom, do you think this is just about a roof over my head?" Exasperation bled into my voice. "The apartment you gave away was the home Aria and I agreed on. I told her it was bought. We planned the renovation style together. And now? It's being lived in by someone else. What do you think Aria and her family will think of us?"
My mother acted as if my concerns were trivial.
"It's not like you don't know Alex and Maya. They are practically your siblings. Their family was so poor they couldn't pay tuition, yet they worked so hard. We couldn't stand by and watch. We just wanted to help a bit."
*Help a bit.*