Chapter 153: Motherhood

ALISON

"When I say the word mother, what do you think?"

Brooke lifted her eyes to me expectantly, and I groaned. "You've asked me this before. Back when we first started meeting. You're starting to repeat yourself."

"Very funny." She tapped her stylus against the edge of her tablet. "I'm not repeating myself. The question has an entirely different meaning to you now-and let's face it, the concept of motherhood has taken on new importance in your life."

"Fine." I heaved a heavy sigh. "Mother. Well, I guess it means-"

"Don't overthink this. Give me the first thing that pops into your mind."

"Gone." The word burst out before I could stop it. "That's what I think."

"Hmmm. Not surprising. For most of your life, you've oriented yourself around a missing maternal figure-actually, around two missing parental figures, but I think because you experienced multiple abandonment scenarios that concerned a woman, it's the mother role that affected you most deeply."