Chapter 2 - The Flower Pot
I did not ask for an explanation before picking Lily up.
Three-year-olds do not owe adults a courtroom defense before receiving comfort.
I stepped around Vanessa.
Lily reached for me.
I lifted her.
She wrapped both arms around my neck.
Her legs pressed against my side.
“Cold.”
“I know.”
Her knees were pink from the patio.
No cuts.
No swelling.
No visible injury beyond mild redness.
I asked:
“Did you fall?”
She nodded.
“Pot broke?”
“It didn’t break.”
Daniel corrected her.
“The plant was destroyed.”
I looked down.
The pot was intact.
So were most of the flowers.
Soil had spilled.
That was all.
Vanessa folded her arms.
“She was told not to touch it.”
Lily whispered into my shoulder:
“I wanted butterfly.”
That turned out to be the entire event.
A butterfly landed on the rim.
Lily reached.
Her hand bumped the pot.
It tipped.
Soil spilled.
Vanessa ordered her onto the ground.
According to Daniel:
“She needs to learn actions have consequences.”
I looked at him.
“She is three.”
“You already said that.”
“I thought perhaps repetition would help.”
He stopped smiling.
I carried Lily inside.
Vanessa followed.
“This is exactly the problem.”
“What is?”
“You undermine me.”
I stopped.
Turned.
“No. I interrupted something I considered inappropriate.”
“You weren’t here.”
“I am now.”
She stared at me.
May you like
Then said something I would understand only later.
“That’s always the issue.”
