Chapter 24 - The family dinner
Two and a half years after the party, my parents invited me to dinner.
Small.
No Arthur.
I brought Gigi.
Victoria had seen her six supervised or parent-present times by then.
Charles fewer.
Trust came back unevenly.
At dinner, Gigi spilled milk.
My body noticed everyone noticing.
Victoria stood.
Got a towel.
“That’s okay.”
No:
Careful.
No:
Naughty.
No lecture.
Charles moved Gigi’s plate so milk would not soak it.
Normal.
Later Gigi refused vegetables.
Victoria looked at me.
“Can I bribe her with dessert?”
I laughed.
“Absolutely not.”
“Your childhood was built on bribery.”
“Explains a lot.”
Available joke.
That mattered.
Then Arthur’s name came up.
Charles said:
“He’s been offered a job in Boston.”
I tensed.
Victoria did not rush to praise.
She said:
“He says the employer knows about the conviction.”
Good.
No hidden history.
“Is he going?”
“Probably.”
I nodded.
Maybe distance would help.
Maybe not.
May you like
His life no longer needed to be my project.
That was new.
