Chapter 10 - MY CHILDREN ASKED IF MOMMY WAS COMING HOMEThis was harder than any board meeting.
Ivy asked first.
“Mommy sleep here?”
“No.”
“Tomorrow?”
“No.”
“Why?”
I sat on the playroom floor.
“Mommy is staying somewhere else because grown-ups are working on safety.”
Owen looked at me.
“She take food?”
I swallowed.
“She won’t take your food.”
“Mommy bad?”
“No.”
I chose carefully.
“Mommy made bad choices.”
“Like hitting?”
“She didn’t hit you.”
“Like no food?”
“Yes.”
He thought.
“Bad choice.”
“Yes.”
Children do not need adult villain mythology.
They need concrete safety.
Vanessa eventually received supervised contact.
Not immediately.
Only after child specialists believed it was appropriate.
The first visit lasted forty-five minutes.
I was not in the room.
A professional supervisor was.
Vanessa brought no gifts.
Good.
She cried.
Ivy kept distance.
Owen asked:
“Did you bring snack?”
The supervisor later told me Vanessa broke down.
May you like
Not because that redeemed her.
Because it showed the damage in one sentence.
