Chapter 17
Eloise became a purple stick figure.
Marcellus had no idea what she looked like.
Apparently purple was sufficient.
“She has long hair.”
“You don’t know that,” Lissette said.
“Cousins can.”
“That is not biology.”
He added longer hair anyway.
Then:
“How old?”
“About five.”
“Almost me.”
“Yes.”
“Why never see?”
There it was.
Lissette sat beside him.
“Because Aunt Corinne made a dangerous choice when you were a baby.”
“Grandma dangerous.”
“Yes.”
“Aunt too?”
“She helped Grandma.”
“How?”
Age six.
Not fire-pit reconstruction.
“She stopped me from reaching you when I needed to.”
Marcellus frowned.
“Why?”
“Because grown-ups were fighting about things that had nothing to do with you.”
“Money?”
Lissette blinked.
“Why money?”
“Dad says grown-ups fight about money and parking.”
Fair.
“Yes. Money and control were part of it.”
Marcellus colored Eloise’s shoes green.
“Did Eloise do it?”
“No.”
“Was she baby?”
“She wasn’t born yet.”
He stared.
“So she did nothing.”
“Correct.”
“Then why no see?”
Lissette felt the question.
Because Corinne was Eloise’s mother.
Because children needed parents present.
Because contact could create a bridge Corinne might someday walk across.
Because Lissette still dreamed about five seconds.
All legitimate concerns.
None made Eloise guilty.
“I wasn’t ready to think about it before.”
Marcellus accepted that more easily than she expected.
“Ready now?”
“I don’t know.”
He sighed.
“Adults.”
Family diagnosis.
The school tree went in Monday.
No drama.
Theodora’s name appeared as biological grandmother.
A line below:
No contact.
Corinne:
Aunt.
Eloise:
Cousin.
The teacher later emailed Lissette privately.
Marcellus had explained:
“My grandma did something dangerous, so we don’t see her. My aunt did bad too. My cousin didn’t.”
Lissette cried in her office.
Then called her therapist.
“I think he understands this better than I do.”
“He understands a six-year-old version.”
“Which is?”
“People are responsible for what they did.”
Lissette leaned back.
Simple.
Then Anselm called.
Not about Corinne.
About Marcellus’s science-fair schedule.
They discussed it.
Before hanging up, Lissette said:
“He knows about Eloise.”
Silence.
“Okay.”
“He asked if they can meet.”
Another silence.
Then:
“What did you say?”
“I don’t know.”
Anselm did not say:
You should.
He did not say:
Corinne would love that.
He asked:
“Do you want information that might help you decide?”
Specific.
“Yes.”
He gave only necessary facts.
Eloise was healthy.
Almost five and a half.
Lived primarily with her father.
Corinne had regular parenting time after release, supervised initially and later expanded under family-court review.
No child-welfare concern regarding Eloise had been found.
Corinne had complied with restrictions.
Eloise knew:
Her mother had gone away because she helped do something dangerous involving a baby in the family.
She did not know graphic details.
“Does she know Marcellus?”
“She knows he exists.”
“Has Corinne talked about him?”
“I don’t know every conversation.”
Good.
Then:
“Has she asked to meet?”
“Eloise has.”
Lissette became still.
“When?”
“Twice.”
“And you didn’t tell me?”
“You asked me not to bring their lives into yours unless there was a safety or legal issue.”
Exactly.
He had followed the boundary so well it now hurt.
“What did you tell her?”
“That her aunt decides what is appropriate for Marcellus.”
“Did you tell Corinne?”
“Yes, because Eloise asked in front of her once.”
“What did Corinne say?”
Anselm took a breath.
“She told Eloise, ‘Aunt Lissette does not owe us that.’”
Lissette closed her eyes.
A correct sentence could still be painful.
Then Anselm added:
“She also told her it was not because Eloise had done anything wrong.”
Better.
Lissette took two months.
No deadline.
Then she proposed something narrow.
One cousin meeting.
Children only, in the sense that neither Corinne nor Lissette would be expected to interact.
Lissette would bring Marcellus.
Eloise’s father would bring Eloise.
A child therapist familiar with the family would be present nearby.
Anselm could attend because both children knew him.
Corinne would not.
When Corinne learned through counsel, she agreed.
No objection.
No request to watch from another room.
No photograph request.
The meeting took place at a children’s museum.
Marcellus recognized Eloise because Anselm had shown each child an approved photograph beforehand.
She did not have long hair.
Marcellus looked betrayed.
“You drew me purple,” Eloise said.
He froze.
“How know?”
“Grandpa showed me picture.”
Anselm looked guilty.
Lissette stared.
He raised a hand.
“You had already given me permission to tell her about the family-tree project.”
True.
Marcellus said:
“Purple is good.”
Eloise considered.
“Okay.”
They spent twenty minutes arguing over a model water table.
Then forty minutes building a foam bridge.
No trauma discussion.
No:
Our mothers.
No:
First grandchild.
Children.
At lunch Eloise suddenly asked:
“Did my mom almost hurt you?”
Marcellus stopped chewing.
Lissette’s entire body tightened.
Eloise’s father intervened gently.
“That’s a grown-up history question.”
Eloise frowned.
“But Mom says she made bad choice.”
Marcellus looked toward Lissette.
“Did she?”
Lissette answered:
“Yes.”
Eloise whispered:
“Sorry.”
Lissette’s chest broke.
“No.”
Everyone stopped.
Lissette crouched beside her.
“You do not apologize for your mother.”
Eloise stared.
“But she’s my mom.”
“I know.”
“You can love her.”
“You can be sad about what happened.”
“You can ask questions.”
“But you do not carry her apology.”
Eloise’s eyes filled.
Then Marcellus said:
“My grandma did worse.”
Lissette nearly died.
Anselm covered his face.
Eloise asked:
“Which grandma?”
“Mine.”
“She your grandma too?”
“Probably.”
Anselm finally interrupted.
“Children, the water exhibit has boats.”
Excellent.
They moved.
At goodbye, Marcellus hugged Eloise.
Nobody planned it.
Eloise hugged back.
Then:
“Again?”
Marcellus:
“Yes.”
Both adults froze.
The children had just converted one carefully controlled meeting into an expectation.
Lissette looked toward Eloise’s father.
He smiled apologetically.
“No promises today.”
Good.
In the car Marcellus asked:
“Why not promise?”
“Because seeing Eloise also involves adults who have complicated history.”
“But we don’t.”
There.
The problem.
The children did not.
Lissette stared through the windshield.
She had spent years refusing to let Corinne’s grief, Theodora’s control, or Anselm’s hope dictate her son’s life.
May you like
Now she had to make sure her own trauma did not quietly become the fourth adult force telling two children what family was allowed to mean.
👉 Marcellus and Eloise liked each other immediately—but allowing their cousin relationship to grow would test whether Lissette could protect her son without making him inherit her estrangement.
