Chapter 22 - Ethan and Eliza
Sibling love did not appear instantly.
Ethan was excited for three weeks.
Then:
“She touches my stuff.”
Eliza:
“He says I’m fake sister.”
Ethan:
“I said new sister!”
Close.
At dinner:
“Dad, why does she get different rules?”
Because she was grieving.
Because she had moved houses.
Because she was five.
Because guilt made me soft.
Ethan noticed all of it.
One night he shouted:
“You like her more because Grandpa hid her!”
My chest tightened.
“No.”
“Yes!”
I stopped myself from explaining history.
Instead:
“What happened tonight?”
“She got to sleep in your room when she cried and you made me go back to mine.”
There.
Specific.
Eliza had nightmare.
I let her stay.
Ethan had asked two nights earlier after watching a scary movie.
I sent him back.
He saw ranking.
“I understand why that felt unfair.”
“So?”
“So next time I need to be more thoughtful.”
Not:
Eliza suffered more.
Never make children pay each other for different trauma.
He calmed.
Then:
“Can I sleep here?”
“No.”
He glared.
“Why?”
“Because you’re negotiating after midnight.”
He laughed despite himself.
Ordinary parenting.
Important.
Within two years, they became siblings properly.
Which meant:
Protective in public.
May you like
Terrible to each other in the car.
Progress.
