Chapter 5
Vanessa’s attorney asked for a meeting about Caleb and Ava.
Dana and I attended. Vanessa sat across the table wearing a gray jacket I had bought her for our anniversary. She looked tired. For a moment, I remembered the woman who had stayed awake with me when Ava was a baby.
Then she spoke.
“I’m their mother. Marcus can’t keep them from me because Nia told a story.”
Caleb’s photographs were on the table between us.
Dana answered before I could. “The children’s contact with their mother needs to be planned around their safety and the ongoing review.”
“I would never hurt Caleb or Ava.”
I looked at her. “They watched you hurt Nia.”
Vanessa’s eyes narrowed. “You left me alone with three children while you traveled. Now you want to judge how I managed?”
“I should have been home more,” I said. “That doesn’t explain locking Nia outside.”
She glanced toward her attorney. He asked for a break.
In the hallway, Dana told me Vanessa was trying to make my absence the only issue. I knew my absence mattered. I also knew Nia had been made to sleep on a laundry-room floor by someone who could have opened her bedroom door.
When the meeting resumed, we agreed to a temporary arrangement for Vanessa to see Caleb and Ava with a neutral supervisor while the review continued. Nia would not be required to attend.
I told the children that evening. Ava asked whether she could hug Mom.
“Yes,” I said. “You can tell the supervisor if you want the visit to end, too.”
Caleb said he wasn’t ready. Nobody forced him. Ava chose to go the following week.
Before the visit, she made a drawing for Vanessa. It showed all three children beneath an enormous sun. Nia helped her color the sky.
“Will you be sad if I give it to Mom?” Ava asked her.
“No. She’s your mom.”
I saw how hard it was for Nia to say that without making Ava feel guilty. After Ava went upstairs, I thanked her.
“I don’t want Ava to have to choose,” she said.
“You don’t have to choose between loving Ava and being honest about Vanessa.”
Nia nodded. She still looked uncertain.
Ava’s visit went quietly, according to the supervisor. Vanessa hugged her and asked about school. She did not discuss Nia. Ava came home relieved and talked about the snack they had shared.
That evening, Caleb asked if he could speak to the supervisor before deciding on a visit. I arranged it.
The bank records arrived two days later. The large transfer had gone to Diane Holloway’s business. A second portion went to a separate account held by Vanessa.
Dana called Diane’s attorney. Diane said the payment covered a planned extended placement. She had relied on the signed forms Vanessa provided.
“How long?” I asked Dana.
“Several months were proposed. There were options to extend it.”
I sat down. Nia’s suitcase had been packed for more than a night.
There were records of calls between Vanessa and Diane dating back to May. The June paperwork had not completed the process. Vanessa had continued to arrange it while telling Nia that I wanted her gone.
When I told Renee, she put down her tea.
“She used my name to make it sound safe,” she said. “I want that corrected everywhere.”
Dana sent a statement from Renee confirming she had never agreed to receive Nia and had never been contacted.
Ms. Benton asked for the same statement. She also told me she had spoken with Vanessa. I wasn’t entitled to every detail, but she said her review was continuing.
At bedtime, Nia found me reading Dana’s email. She saw Diane’s name and went still.
“Is that where I was going?”
“Yes. It was a private placement Vanessa arranged without my agreement. It’s stopped.”
“Did they have a room for me?”
“I don’t know.”
She looked down at her hands. “Vanessa told me not to unpack because leaving would be easier if I didn’t get comfortable.”
I closed the laptop.
“You can put your things wherever you want. You can cover every wall in this house with your pictures.”
She sat beside me.
“I know you keep saying I can stay,” she whispered. “I’m trying to believe it.”
“I know.”
I didn’t ask her to believe faster.
The next morning, I canceled the last of my upcoming business trips. My manager was frustrated but helped move the meetings online. I told Nia what had changed and showed her the calendar.
She looked at the weeks without travel marked on them.
“Are you doing this because I cried?”
“I’m doing it because I want to be here.”
May you like
At breakfast, Caleb took out his phone. He said he had one more recording from the night before my return.
“I was afraid to show it,” he told me. “Mom said something about Ava.”
