Chapter 7 - What Simone Told Iris
Iris attended school Monday.
So did Callie.
We nearly kept Callie home.
Dr. Leah Morgan, the child therapist we consulted, advised against making safety feel like exile if Callie wanted normal routine.
Callie wanted school.
Iris did not.
Nathan persuaded her.
The girls were kept in separate classes.
Teachers knew only enough to manage contact.
No school gossip from adults.
Children handled the rest badly, as children do.
By lunch, half the fourth grade knew:
Iris was going to live with the Marcellis.
False.
Callie came home furious.
“She told people she gets my room.”
Vivienne’s face went white.
“Who?”
“Iris.”
Nathan came over that evening with Iris.
Not to force reconciliation.
To clarify.
Iris sat on our sofa with both hands under her thighs.
Callie sat across from her.
Dr. Morgan was present.
Adults stayed quiet.
Iris said:
“My mom said maybe I stay here after surgery.”
Callie:
“In my room?”
“She said the room near Vivienne is better because I get scared.”
Vivienne inhaled sharply.
Our guest room was near our bedroom.
Callie’s room was also on that hallway.
“Did she say Callie would move?” Dr. Morgan asked.
Iris nodded.
“To the blue room.”
The blue room was farther down the hall.
Callie looked at me.
“She told me that too.”
“When?”
“Last month.”
My stomach tightened.
Callie continued:
“She said older girls get better rooms and I’m old enough to stop sleeping by you.”
I looked at Vivienne.
She had never heard that.
Iris said quickly:
“I didn’t ask.”
Callie’s expression softened a fraction.
“Did she say you’re my sister?”
Iris looked embarrassed.
“She said maybe.”
“Do you want?”
The question stunned every adult.
Iris thought.
“I don’t know.”
Callie nodded.
“Me either.”
Children often reach the honest answer before adults.
Dr. Morgan asked Iris:
“What did you think would happen if your mom’s surgery went well?”
“I go home.”
“And if it didn’t?”
Iris’s eyes filled.
“She said I’d be a Marcelli girl.”
Nathan looked away.
Simone had used certainty to soothe her daughter’s fear.
She had promised a future she had no legal power to guarantee.
It made Iris feel safer for a while.
It made Callie feel replaceable.
May you like
Two children paying for one adult’s intolerance of uncertainty.
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