Chapter 5 - “Temporary”
The first warning came from Rosa.
Noah was eleven months old.
I returned from work and found Rosa waiting near my study.
She had worked for our family for nine years.
She did not gossip.
That was why I listened.
“Mr. Carter?”
“Yes?”
“Mrs. Carter keeps telling the staff not to move Noah's things permanently.”
I looked up.
“What?”
“She said everything for him should stay easy to pack.”
My stomach tightened.
“What exactly did she say?”
Rosa hesitated.
I waited.
“She said his nursery was temporary.”
“Temporary until what?”
“She didn't say.”
I confronted Margaret.
She laughed.
“You're interrogating me over storage?”
“Did you call Noah's room temporary?”
“I said children change rooms.”
“No.”
Her face cooled.
“You're grieving, Daniel.”
That phrase worked on me more than once.
You're grieving.
You're tired.
You're mishearing.
You're overprotective.
I wanted those explanations because the alternative was:
My mother does not accept my son.
May you like
So I chose the explanations that hurt less.
For a while.
