Chapter 12
Miriam eventually agreed to see Ottavia.
Six months after the rooftop.
Her apartment.
Her rules.
I was not there.
Later, Miriam told me enough.
Ottavia arrived with flowers.
Miriam did not take them at first.
Good.
Ottavia apologized for saying she was dead.
That sentence alone took ten minutes.
Then Ashdown.
The controlled visits.
Callum.
Eulalie’s wages.
Everything.
Miriam asked:
“Were you ashamed of me?”
Ottavia said yes.
No softening.
Then Miriam asked:
“Are you still?”
Long silence.
Then:
“I’m ashamed that I was.”
Better.
Miriam cried.
Still did not hug her.
Important.
Parents are not machines that convert remorse into absolution.
Ottavia had spent years assuming motherhood meant endless availability.
Even after erasure.
Now Miriam could choose distance.
They met again a month later.
Then three weeks.
Then dinner.
Slow.
Nobody called it reconciliation.
Callum refused to see Ottavia for almost a year.
Eulalie longer.
Also their choices.
Ottavia once asked me whether I could tell Eulalie she was sorry.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because you used me as authority once already.”
That stopped her.
If she wanted to apologize, she would wait until Eulalie permitted direct contact.
May you like
No more powerful intermediaries.
No more borrowing other people’s names to reach someone who had said no.
