Jasper’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Dad, did you forget how pitiful Aunt Ava looked when she was crying just now? She didn’t do anything wrong! Why should she be treated like that?”
Hugo let out a slow sigh. “You’re still too young to understand how things work between adults.”
But Jasper refused to back down.
“What don’t I understand? Aunt Ava only left you in the past, right? Everyone makes mistakes. She already came back and admitted she was wrong; what more do you want?”
Everyone makes mistakes.
The words echoed in my mind, a lesson I had once taught him.
When he was four, he had been too busy playing to eat. In his excitement, he knocked over a cup, spilling boiling water across my hand. The pain shot through me instantly. I sucked in a sharp breath, but before I could say anything, he burst into tears.
“I’m sorry, Mommy! Jasper was wrong! Jasper didn’t mean to!”
Despite the burning ache, I pulled him into my arms and soothed him. “Don’t cry, Jasper. Everyone makes mistakes. As long as you realize it and make it right, you’re still a good boy.”
With tear-filled eyes, he had asked me what that meant.