Chapter 12 - Hazel Finally Asked the Question Everyone FearedThe therapist's office had toys in one corner.
Hazel ignored all of them.
She sat between Jonathan and Evelyn on a blue couch.
Dr. Maya Levin sat across from them.
"So," Maya said gently, "your mom and dad told me things have been confusing."
Hazel nodded.
"Because Aunt Scarlett went away."
Evelyn's eyes filled.
Maya asked:
"What do you think happened?"
Hazel looked toward Jonathan.
"Daddy found her."
"Found her where?"
"In the closet."
Maya nodded.
"And what did that mean to you?"
Hazel shrugged.
"That Mommy got in trouble."
Evelyn flinched.
Maya noticed.
"Do grown-ups get in trouble?"
"Yes."
"Who gives them trouble?"
Hazel thought.
"Police?"
Jonathan almost smiled.
Maya did.
"Sometimes."
Then:
"Do you think your mom did something wrong?"
Hazel looked at Evelyn.
"She lied."
Evelyn whispered:
"Yes."
Hazel's eyes filled.
"And Aunt Scarlett lied."
Jonathan nodded.
"Yes."
Hazel looked at him.
"Did you lie?"
Jonathan stopped.
He wanted to say no.
Technically, he hadn't hidden an affair.
But children asked moral questions more broadly than legal ones.
"I told Mommy I wouldn't work so much."
Evelyn looked at him.
Jonathan continued.
"And I didn't always keep that promise."
Hazel considered it.
"So everybody lied."
Maya stepped in.
"Not all lies are the same."
Hazel frowned.
"Why?"
"Some hurt more."
That seemed acceptable to her.
Then Hazel asked:
"Does Mommy still love Aunt Scarlett?"
The room froze.
Evelyn looked toward Maya.
Maya didn't rescue her.
Evelyn took Hazel's hand.
"Yes."
Hazel's eyes widened.
Jonathan stared at the floor.
Evelyn continued.
"But loving someone doesn't mean the choices you make with them are okay."
Hazel looked confused.
"Do you love Daddy?"
"Yes."
"Then why did you need Aunt Scarlett?"
Evelyn broke.
She covered her face.
Jonathan felt instinctively compelled to answer for her.
He stopped himself.
Evelyn lowered her hands.
"I didn't need her because Daddy wasn't enough."
Hazel waited.
"I had feelings I didn't understand and I made choices instead of telling the truth."
"Do you like girls?"
Jonathan looked up.
Evelyn smiled sadly.
"Sometimes."
Hazel thought.
"Like Aunt Scarlett?"
"Yes."
"Can girls marry girls?"
"Yes."
"Then are you going to marry Aunt Scarlett?"
"No."
Hazel's forehead wrinkled.
"Why?"
"Because Aunt Scarlett and I hurt people and lied to each other."
Hazel leaned against Jonathan.
He put an arm around her.
Then came the question.
"Are you and Daddy getting divorced?"
Silence.
Maya looked at both parents.
Jonathan answered.
"We don't know yet."
Hazel began crying.
"I don't want two houses."
Jonathan's chest tightened.
Evelyn reached for her.
This time Hazel allowed it.
"I don't want the blue house."
"It's gone," Evelyn said.
"Really?"
"Really."
"No Aunt Scarlett?"
Evelyn's face tightened.
"Not right now."
Hazel looked at Jonathan.
"Can Daddy stay?"
Jonathan pulled her close.
"I'm not going anywhere."
"But Mommy might."
Evelyn cried.
Maya leaned forward.
"Nobody is leaving Hazel."
The child looked skeptical.
"Adults might live in different houses someday. But your mom stays your mom. Your dad stays your dad."
Hazel whispered:
"Can I tell both of you everything?"
Jonathan answered immediately.
"Yes."
Evelyn nodded.
"Always."
"Even if somebody says secret?"
"Especially then," Jonathan said.
Hazel seemed to breathe easier.
After the session, Maya asked to speak with Jonathan and Evelyn alone.
Linda waited outside with Hazel.
Maya closed the door.
"Your daughter has been carrying adult information."
Evelyn looked ashamed.
"I know."
"Don't use her to prove guilt."
Jonathan nodded.
"Don't ask what she saw unless a professional needs to know."
"Okay."
"Don't make Scarlett disappear from the story as though Hazel imagined loving her."
That surprised Jonathan.
"What do we say?"
"The truth at her level. Scarlett was important. Adults made choices. Contact changed."
Evelyn wiped her face.
Maya continued.
"And you two need to decide something."
Jonathan looked at her.
"Not whether you stay married."
"Then what?"
"Whether this house becomes a courtroom or a home."
Silence.
"If every breakfast becomes evidence and every sentence becomes cross-examination, Hazel will feel it."
Jonathan knew she was right.
He'd been questioning Evelyn constantly.
Understandably.
But Hazel lived nearby.
"What do we do?"
"Schedule times to talk about the affair. Outside those times, parent."
Evelyn nodded.
Jonathan did too.
Driving home, Hazel sat in the back seat singing softly.
Evelyn looked out the window.
Jonathan drove.
At a red light, Evelyn whispered:
"I deleted Scarlett's number."
Jonathan glanced at her.
"You didn't have to tell me."
"I wanted you to know."
"Did she contact you?"
"Once."
"What did she say?"
Evelyn hesitated.
Jonathan almost laughed.
"Scheduled conversation."
She smiled sadly.
"Tonight?"
"After Hazel sleeps."
Evelyn nodded.
That night, at nine-thirty, they sat at the dining table.
Jonathan said:
"What did Scarlett say?"
Evelyn handed him her phone.
One final message remained.
SCARLETT: Ask Jonathan what happened the night of your tenth anniversary. He isn't as innocent as you think.
Jonathan stared.
Evelyn watched him.
"What happened that night?"
He looked up slowly.
May you like
And for the first time since the affair was exposed—
Jonathan had a secret of his own.
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