Chapter 12
Elowen stopped asking whether she was being sent away after about six weeks.
Then she asked again unexpectedly one morning.
Alaric was making breakfast.
Poorly.
She sat at the island watching him destroy a pancake.
“Daddy?”
“Yes?”
“Graydon?”
He put down the spatula.
“No.”
“Ever?”
Alaric thought before answering.
“If you ever need medical or emotional help, we will talk with real doctors together.”
She looked worried.
“But not because I’m bad?”
“No.”
“What if I get really bad?”
“You’re a person. Not a report.”
She considered that.
Then pointed toward the pan.
“That pancake is bad.”
Alaric looked down.
“That is objectively true.”
She laughed.
Small.
Real.
He had missed that sound.
Dr. Hart continued therapy.
Not to erase Seraphine.
To give Elowen language for what happened.
Adults can lie.
Documents can lie.
A signature that looks real can still be false.
A child can ask another trusted adult.
Elowen made a list of people she could call.
Alaric.
Marjorie.
Dr. Hart.
Rebecca.
Her teacher.
No single gatekeeper.
That change mattered to Alaric too.
He restructured the household.
Seraphine had been able to use his name because people treated his authority like proof.
That ended.
Instructions affecting Elowen required verification.
No spouse or relative could remove her from school, therapy, or the home based on informal authority.
Staff were specifically told:
“If somebody says I ordered something that scares you, confirm it.”
Marjorie smiled.
“Even if it annoys you?”
“Especially then.”
May you like
The house became slightly less efficient.
Alaric considered that a success.
