Chapter 12
Ethan chose to stay for the school term.
Not permanently.
Not as a declaration against his mother.
Just because his school, friends, and room were here.
His room.
Not Ruby’s.
We restored his old room in the west wing.
When he saw it, he looked relieved.
Then guilty.
“Is this bad?”
“What?”
“That I’m happy.”
“No.”
He nodded.
Then:
“Can Mom visit?”
“Yes.”
“Can Ruby say no?”
I looked at him.
Interesting.
“Yes.”
He had learned quickly.
“Can I say yes if Ruby says no?”
“Yes.”
Different relationships.
Different choices.
He smiled faintly.
“Okay.”
Later, I unpacked Ruby’s suitcases with her.
She insisted on helping.
Meaning she removed toys and scattered them across the floor while I did the work.
Fine.
When we reached Serena’s blanket, she climbed onto the bed and covered herself.
“Mine.”
“Yes.”
Then she looked at Ethan in the doorway.
He held one of her stuffed animals.
He froze.
“Sorry.”
Ruby frowned.
“You can.”
He stared.
“Really?”
She nodded.
Then:
“Not bed.”
I almost laughed.
Boundary set.
Clear.
He sat on the rug instead.
Good.
That evening, the two children ate dinner together.
Not at the head table.
Small kitchen table.
Their choice.
Ethan asked:
“Am I still family?”
Ruby answered before I could.
“You live here.”
Three-year-old jurisprudence.
Not bad.
I added:
“You are family to the people you build family with.”
He frowned.
“That sounds complicated.”
“It is.”
Good.
No fake simplicity.
Then he asked the harder question.
“Is Mom bad?”
I looked at him.
“She made harmful choices.”
“Does she love me?”
“Yes.”
“Ruby?”
I hesitated.
“Probably in a way mixed up with fear.”
He looked confused.
Fair.
“You can love someone and still hurt them.”
He looked down.
“Then what matters?”
I thought of Valentina.
Marcus.
Serena.
My own failures.
“What you do after you know you hurt them.”
That answer seemed to satisfy him.
May you like
It also unsettled me.
Because it applied to me too.
