Chapter 25 - The First Meeting Question
At five, Noah became more curious.
“Why I don't see your mom?”
I answered in layers.
“When you were a baby, she hurt you.”
“On stairs?”
“Yes.”
“You there?”
“I came right after.”
“You save me?”
“I picked you up and called doctors.”
He considered.
“Did you hit her?”
I had hoped that detail could wait.
But children discover family history through cracks.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I was very angry.”
“Because she hurt me?”
“Yes.”
“Good?”
“No.”
He looked confused.
“But she bad.”
“What she did was very wrong. I still wasn't allowed to punish her by hitting her.”
He frowned.
“Police punish?”
“The court handled consequences.”
He knew police mostly from picture books.
Close enough.
Then:
“Did you say sorry?”
“To Margaret?”
“Yes.”
That stopped me.
I had completed diversion.
Counseling.
Community service.
I had acknowledged what I did legally.
But I had never apologized to my mother.
Did accountability require contact?
My therapist said:
“No.”
A direct apology was not necessary if contact could destabilize boundaries.
So I wrote one statement through counsel.
I struck you after Noah was already safe. That was wrong. I take responsibility for it. This does not change what happened to Noah or the boundaries protecting him.
No reconciliation.
May you like
No invitation.
Precise.
