The Thousandth Mommy

Summary

My mother always told me that every child only gets to say "Mommy" a thousand times.

By the time I was six, I had already used nine hundred and ninety-nine.

"If you say it one more time, Mommy will die, and you'll be all alone."

I believed her. From that day on, I never said it again.

Twenty years later, in the bridal suite before my wedding, she looked at me with terrified, hopeful eyes.

"Chloe, honey... could you say it just one more time? Just once?"

I looked at the chest of solid gold jewelry she was offering me and gently used that very last time.

"Mommy."