Chapter 9
Marjorie asked whether the Cole family could visit.
Sienna said:
“Not yet.”
Marjorie called me.
Not Sienna.
Mistake.
“You’re keeping us from our granddaughter.”
“No.”
“Sienna is emotional.”
There.
Post-birth dismissal arriving exactly as expected.
I kept my voice low.
“She gave you an answer.”
“She needs time.”
“Yes.”
“So you agree.”
“No.”
I almost laughed.
“Needing time does not mean her no becomes mine to overrule.”
Silence.
This was the lesson Marjorie never learned.
She heard vulnerability and imagined vacancy.
If someone was tired, grieving, pregnant, young, afraid—
May you like
an elder should decide.
Convenient for elders.
