Chapter 16 - Eleanor sees Sofia again
Nine months passed.
Sofia turned six.
My mother completed her conditional requirements.
Therapist Dr. Grant asked Sofia:
“Do you want to see Grandma Eleanor?”
Sofia asked:
“Will Grandpa come?”
“No.”
“Door?”
“No quiet room.”
“Can Daddy stay?”
“Yes.”
Then:
“Okay.”
First meeting.
Therapeutic office.
Forty-five minutes.
Eleanor entered without gifts.
Good.
She sat.
Sofia held Caroline the doll.
My mother cried immediately.
Dr. Grant stopped her gently.
“Eleanor, regulate first.”
My mother breathed.
Then:
“Sofia, I locked the storage-room door when you were scared.”
Sofia nodded.
“Grandpa say.”
“Yes.”
“Why listen?”
There.
My mother looked at me.
Then back at Sofia.
“Because I had practiced listening to Grandpa for so long that I forgot being your grandmother meant I had to tell him no.”
Not perfect child language.
True.
Sofia asked:
“You scared Grandpa?”
Eleanor considered.
“Sometimes.”
“Me too.”
“I know.”
Then:
“But I was the grown-up.”
There.
Sofia hugged Caroline the doll.
“Grandpa says Daddy no save.”
“That was wrong.”
“Daddy save.”
“Yes.”
Dr. Grant later corrected us privately.
“Be careful.”
“What?”
“Don’t build the opposite mythology.”
Meaning:
Grandpa powerless.
Daddy always saves.
Safety should not depend on me.
Right.
At the next conversation I told Sofia:
“If Daddy is not there, you can tell another safe adult.”
Teacher.
Dr. Grant.
Security.
Nanny.
Police if emergency.
Grandma eventually if trust rebuilt.
No single savior.
May you like
That mattered.
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