Chapter 6
Bianca’s grief was real.
That mattered.
It did not entitle her to a child.
Years earlier, she had lost a pregnancy late enough that the nursery already existed.
Victor watched his daughter collapse afterward.
Instead of helping her live with an empty room, he promised her the room would not stay empty.
That promise became dangerous over time.
“When did he first say Sofia’s baby could be yours?”
Bianca sat near the window.
“Before we knew there were three.”
My jaw tightened.
“So even if there had been one?”
She looked away.
“He said Julian would understand.”
Interesting.
Victor had been assigning his son’s future children before Sofia was even pregnant with triplets.
“Did Julian know then?”
“No.”
“When did he learn?”
“After the second ultrasound.”
Three babies.
Victor saw abundance.
Bianca saw possibility.
Julian saw family tradition.
Sofia saw children.
Different languages.
I looked at Bianca.
“What did you say when Victor offered?”
She started crying.
“At first? No.”
Good.
“What changed?”
“Everyone kept saying three babies would be impossible.”
Who is everyone?
Victor.
Julian.
Two Mercer aunts.
A household nurse Victor trusted.
People repeating an idea until resistance feels selfish.
“They said Sofia would be overwhelmed.”
“And therefore?”
“One could be raised with me.”
I leaned back.
“You never asked Sofia.”
Bianca shook her head.
“Why?”
Her answer came quietly.
“Because I knew she would say no.”
There.
No confusion.
She knew.
Still prepared the nursery.
Still accepted the blue ribbon.
Still waited for the boy.
I looked at her.
“You mocked her refusal as greed.”
Bianca’s face tightened.
“I never—”
Sofia spoke from the bed.
“You told me I had three miracles and could spare one.”
Bianca closed her eyes.
There it was.
Villainy does not always sound like hatred.
Sometimes it sounds like arithmetic.
I looked toward the three bassinets.
Identical hospital blankets.
Three separate breathing children.
Not surplus.
Not compensation.
Not branches of a family tree needing distribution.
Children.
Bianca whispered:
“I wanted to be somebody’s mother.”
Sofia answered.
“So did I.”
May you like
Silence.
That was enough.
