Chapter 6 - THE WORDS AVA KEPT REPEATING
Ava’s therapist advised patience.
Rocco obeyed.
That was not natural for him.
He was accustomed to problems that became smaller when confronted directly.
Children did not work that way.
Three days passed before Ava spoke again.
This time she asked whether Noah was sleeping.
“Yes,” Rocco said.
“In his room?”
“Yes.”
“Alone?”
“His nanny is nearby.”
Ava nodded.
Then she asked, “Does he have to do anything for me?”
“No.”
Her shoulders dropped slightly.
Rocco noticed.
“Did you think he did?”
Ava stared at the floor.
“Mom says families need rules.”
“What rules?”
Ava’s expression closed.
Rocco stopped.
The therapist later explained that repeated phrases often mattered.
Ava had used the same language several times.
Families need rules.
People need to know their place.
Guard dogs don’t need sleep.
They did not sound like a twelve-year-old’s natural vocabulary.
They sounded taught.
That evening, Rocco checked with Ava’s school counselor again.
The counselor remembered one conversation from two weeks earlier.
Ava had fallen asleep briefly during study hall.
When asked why she was tired, she said:
“I have to make sure Noah doesn’t get in trouble.”
The counselor assumed she meant ordinary sibling responsibility.
Now it sounded different.
Another clue surfaced from a kitchen employee.
On two mornings, she found Ava carrying breakfast upstairs before Bianca woke.
“For herself?” Rocco asked.
“I thought so.”
“What did she take?”
Toast.
Bananas.
Warm milk.
Foods Noah liked.
The hidden bedding.
The exhaustion.
The food.
May you like
Rocco began seeing another possibility.
But he refused to decide before Ava told him herself.
