Chapter 15 - June Refuses to Be Used
Evelina contacted June once more after the ballroom incident.
Through an email she should not have sent under the protective-order atmosphere, though Hattie was not directly contacted.
June forwarded it to the agency and lawyers.
Evelina wrote:
I’m sorry you were dragged into this. Lucian will now tell Hattie everything and probably make me the villain for wanting honesty.
June replied once.
Only once.
I wanted Hattie to know the truth. I did not want the truth used to make her feel less like Lucian and Mara’s daughter.
Then:
Please do not contact me again.
Evelina complied.
June later told me:
“She kept acting like she was defending my importance.”
I understood.
“She was using you.”
“Yes.”
June’s voice hardened.
“I signed an adoption consent. I did not sign a contract giving future adults permission to use me as proof Hattie doesn’t belong.”
That sentence changed how I talked about adoption forever.
Birth parents are often weaponized rhetorically.
Real mother.
Real family.
True parents.
As if adoption requires one relationship to become counterfeit.
June rejected it.
Mara could be Hattie’s mother.
June could be Hattie’s birth mother.
I could be Hattie’s father.
The biological father could remain part of her origin without becoming an active parent.
No competition required.
The people creating competition were adults with their own needs.
June agreed to restart the annual letter exchange.
This time directly through the agency with me responsible.
I put recurring reminders on my calendar.
Bureaucratic.
Useful.
No more relying on grief to decide whether communication happened.
Hattie dictated part of the first letter.
Hi June. I like dogs too but I like horses more. My tooth fell out but not the normal way. Dad says I don’t have to tell you the whole story. I am seven.
Dr. Cole approved after checking Hattie wanted to send it.
June replied:
Horses are excellent. Your dad is right—you never owe anyone your whole story.
Hattie read that twice.
Then said:
“She talks like therapist.”
I laughed.
May you like
Perhaps that was a compliment.
────────────────────
