"You're not perfect. You made mistakes. Doesn't mean there's anything wrong with you and you know I'd tell you if there was, so stop insulting me with this 'nice' stuff." Margaret smiled as she took another sip of her own drink. She'd get around to actually eating in a bit, maybe.
"I thought, when I ran away at sixteen, I'd be a famous dancer, a star. Then I was going to be just a dancer, living the high life. Then your father came along, and you, and finally your stepfather, and now I'm the mother of the most successful woman in politics." She shrugged her shoulders. "Point is, Sugar, you've got to just roll with the punches in life. Regret isn't going to get you anywhere. It just builds another wall to lock yourself away behind. And the reasons don't matter. They won't matter to TJ or to Doug. If you honestly regret having them, that's all they'll hear, that you regret having them.
"Can you blame them for their loyalty to each other? Would you change it? You have your ambitions and they have theirs, mostly to measure up to you and Bud. Doug is so much like you, you take it for granted, while you and TJ have never understood one another. TJ's always been lost because he was born into a world he doesn't particularly like. Doug's just starting to realize how lost he is. And, you've had a plan all your life. Now that you don't, you're as lost as they are. When they find their way, they'll come back. Bud, well, I'm afraid he's just hopeless." Margaret smirked and took another sip. "You will find your way just like the boys, however, because you always have. It's your gift, Elaine. You set your sights on something and just keep going until you reach it."