Chapter 4 - Mason’s Other Home
Mason’s father was named Andrew Mercer.
No relation to me.
Imogen had kept her married surname after divorce? She was Imogen Mercer. Fine.
Andrew lived forty minutes away.
He and Imogen shared legal custody.
Physical schedule had changed constantly over three years.
Not because either was a monster.
Because both moved.
Andrew remarried.
Imogen changed jobs twice.
Mason changed schools once.
Then the condo flood happened.
The insurer paid hotel costs.
Imogen hated the instability.
Andrew filed a motion asking family court to make his home Mason’s primary school-year residence temporarily until Imogen had stable housing again.
Not sole custody.
Not:
take her son.
Primary residence.
Imogen panicked.
She interpreted:
Temporary adjustment
as the first step toward being replaced.
A guardian ad litem was appointed to assess:
Housing.
Routine.
School commute.
Parent cooperation.
Mason’s preferences.
No surprise home raid.
Scheduled interviews.
Home observations where relevant.
Imogen had one coming the following Monday.
At our house.
That was why she needed the bedroom.
I looked at Caleb in the hospital.
“She planned to present Sawyer’s room as Mason’s?”
“I think so.”
“You think?”
“Last week she asked if Mason could move into Sawyer’s room for the evaluator.”
“And what did you say?”
“No.”
“Exactly?”
Caleb thought.
“I said, ‘Mason needs to feel like he has a real place while you’re here. We’ll make the guest room work.’”
“Anything about Sawyer leaving?”
“No.”
“Did she ask again?”
“Yes.”
“What did you say?”
“That Sawyer’s room was not available.”
“Then how did we get from that to boxes?”
Caleb closed his eyes.
“I don’t know.”
I did.
Imogen had decided.
But why did she think she could convince everyone afterward?
The answer arrived in an email later that morning.
Imogen had forwarded the guardian ad litem a message three days earlier.
Subject:
Mason’s Current Household Arrangement.
It read:
My brother Caleb and sister-in-law Rosalind have agreed that Mason will have a dedicated bedroom at their residence for the duration of my displacement. Their son Sawyer will be staying frequently with Rosalind’s mother during this period, so the boys will not be sharing.
My mother?
Sawyer had slept at my mother’s house three times in his life.
Frequently.
No.
Then:
The family has been very supportive of ensuring Mason experiences continuity and ownership of space.
Ownership.
There.
Caleb had not seen the email.
Neither had I.
Why had the guardian ad litem not contacted us?
She planned to verify during Monday’s visit.
Imogen apparently assumed the room would speak for itself.
If the shelves held Mason’s things.
If Sawyer’s boxes sat elsewhere.
If adults repeated:
temporary arrangement.
A visual fact could create administrative momentum.
Not legal ownership.
Not custody magic.
But enough to support:
Mason has stable dedicated housing with extended family.
Imogen was staging stability.
Using my son’s room.
And she had convinced herself that making Sawyer disappear from the picture for a few hours was merely:
presentation.
That word would appear later.
May you like
Too many times.
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