Chapter 8
The following month was steadier than I expected.
The exchanges happened when the calendar said they would. Rochelle sent me Eli’s school notices through the app. I shared pictures from our weekends and told her when he forgot a book at my house.
There were still hard moments.
Once, Eli called to say goodnight and began crying because he missed me. I could hear Rochelle nearby. I wanted to tell him I’d come get him. Instead, I listened until he told me what had upset him. He had lost the tiny bridge sign from our model.
“We can make another when you’re here,” I said.
“What if I forget what it looked like?”
“I took a picture. We’ll copy it.”
He calmed down. Before ending the call, Rochelle thanked me. She sounded tired.
Another week, he cried when it was time to leave my house. Maya walked outside so Rochelle and I could help him together at the family center.
“I don’t want either of you sad,” Eli said.
Rochelle knelt in front of him. “I’ll be okay when you go with Dad.”
I knelt beside her. “And I’ll be okay when you go home with Mom.”
“Even if I’m happy there?”
“Especially then,” I said.
He looked at both of us for a long time before taking my hand.
I thought about what Dr. Ellis had said. We could repeat that Eli was allowed to love us both. He needed to see us bear it.
One Tuesday, Rochelle called outside our usual time. She asked if we could talk without Eli.
“My mother’s been watching him while I work nights,” she said. “She hurt her knee. I need help for the next two weeks.”
I checked my work calendar. I could rearrange two afternoons, and Maya could help with one school pickup if Rochelle was comfortable with that.
Rochelle was quiet when I suggested it.
“I don’t want Eli thinking I can’t manage.”
“He’ll think the adults made a plan.”
“What about Maya?”
“I’ll ask her. You can meet her first if that helps.”
We met at a café near the family center. Maya was nervous. Rochelle was, too. I could see how much effort it took for them to sit at the same table.
Maya explained that she had known Eli a year and cared about him. She didn’t want to replace anyone.
Rochelle stared at her cup.
“I know he likes you,” she said. “I thought that meant he needed me less.”
“It doesn’t,” Maya answered.
Rochelle looked up. For once, she let the words settle without arguing.
We worked out the pickups. I wrote the plan in the app before leaving so we could all see it.
On the first afternoon, Maya collected Eli from school and brought him to my house. He ran in holding a note from his teacher, thrilled that three different adults wanted to hear about his good spelling test.
When Rochelle called that night, he told her everything. She asked him to spell the hardest word.
“Suspension,” he announced.
I heard her laugh. “Of course that’s the one you remember.”
The temporary arrangement ended when Anita was well enough to help again. It had gone smoothly. I didn’t take that as proof every problem was solved. I took it as proof we could make a plan without asking Eli to carry it.
Two weeks before his eighth birthday, Eli asked for a party.
“With everyone?” I said.
“With you and Mom. And Grandma Anita. And Maya, if she wants.”
“We’ll talk about it.”
Rochelle called me before I could raise the subject. Eli had asked her, too. She suggested a park halfway between our houses.
“I can bring the cake,” she said.
“I’ll bring food and games.”
“What does he want this year?”
“A bigger bridge kit.”
She laughed softly. “I should have guessed.”
Then she said, “Warren, I’m sorry I told him you might not come that day.”
I leaned against the kitchen counter.
“I heard you say it in court.”
“I wanted to say it to you. He ran out because he believed you might leave if he didn’t get to the door. I hate that I made him feel it.”
“I do, too.”
“I’m telling him now when you’ll be there. When plans change, I let you tell him yourself.”
“I’ve noticed.”
She paused. “I hope it helps.”
“It does.”
After the call, I found Maya wrapping Eli’s present. I told her Rochelle had suggested a party together.
“Will that be okay for you?” I asked.
“If Eli wants me there and Rochelle knows I’m coming, yes.”
“She does.”
Maya folded the paper neatly over the box. “Then let’s give him a day that feels like his.”
May you like
I looked at the calendars on the wall. Months earlier, every marked weekend had made me anxious. Now I could picture us gathering at a park, arguing only about where to put the cake.
I hoped that was what Eli would remember.
