Chapter 23 - “NO. NEVER BECAUSE OF YOU.”The question returned at the sixth visit.
Maisie and Lauren sat on the floor of Lauren’s apartment.
It was modest.
Two bedrooms.
Plants everywhere.
No mansion.
Maisie liked it.
Reid remained in the kitchen, giving space.
They were assembling a puzzle.
Maisie asked without warning:
“Did you ever wish I wasn’t born?”
Lauren’s hand stopped.
“No.”
“Not even when you were sick?”
“No.”
“Not even when Dad was mad?”
“No.”
“Not even when Grandma hated you?”
“No.”
Maisie looked at her.
“Never?”
Lauren moved the puzzle piece aside.
“Maisie, there were times I wished I was better.”
She waited.
“Times I wished my life looked different.”
“Different how?”
“I wished I wasn’t sick.”
“Okay.”
“I wished I knew how to ask for help.”
“Okay.”
“I wished your dad and I stopped hurting each other sooner.”
Reid heard that from the kitchen.
Fair.
Lauren continued.
“But I never wished you away.”
Maisie’s eyes filled.
“Grandma said you left because you didn’t want to be a mom.”
Lauren closed her eyes.
“I left because I was failing at being healthy.”
“That sounds the same.”
“It isn’t.”
“How?”
Lauren thought.
“Imagine you have a broken leg.”
Maisie looked confused.
“Okay.”
“And instead of going to a doctor, you keep trying to run.”
“That’s dumb.”
“Yes.”
“Doesn’t work.”
“No.”
“Then what?”
“I kept trying to run until I fell.”
Maisie nodded slowly.
“Leaving was falling?”
“Partly.”
“And treatment?”
“Learning to walk again.”
Maisie thought.
“Then why didn’t you come back?”
Lauren’s eyes filled.
“Because after I learned to walk, I was afraid to come home and see what I had broken.”
Maisie looked down.
“That part was wrong.”
“Yes.”
No excuse.
Maisie asked:
“So you didn’t leave because of me?”
Lauren leaned forward.
“No.”
Slow.
Clear.
“Never because of you.”
Maisie cried.
Not violently.
Quietly.
Lauren stayed where she was.
Did not reach.
Maisie moved first.
She crawled across the rug and leaned into her.
Lauren wrapped both arms around her.
Reid looked away.
That moment did not belong to him.
After several minutes Maisie asked:
“Can Dad come?”
Lauren looked toward the kitchen.
“Of course.”
Reid joined them.
Maisie pulled him down.
For one strange second all three sat on the floor beside an unfinished puzzle.
Not reunited.
Not repaired.
But present.
Maisie looked between them.
“You both messed up.”
Reid laughed softly.
“Yes.”
Lauren nodded.
“Definitely.”
“Grandma too.”
“Yes.”
“Adults are terrible.”
Reid smiled.
“Frequently.”
Maisie wiped her face.
“Can we get pizza?”
Lauren laughed.
“Absolutely.”
They ordered too much.
Argued about toppings.
Reid hated pineapple.
Lauren liked it.
Maisie sided with Lauren specifically to annoy him.
Normal conflict.
Safe conflict.
Nobody punished anyone.
Nobody disappeared.
Nobody told Maisie what she was supposed to feel.
That evening back at Briarstone Manor, she walked into the sitting room.
The red button remained beneath the table.
She touched it.
Did not press.
Reid watched from the doorway.
“You okay?”
Maisie nodded.
“Yeah.”
Then:
“Dad?”
“Yeah?”
“Can Mom come for dinner next week?”
He smiled.
“Yes.”
“Grandma?”
He paused.
“Not yet.”
Maisie nodded.
“Okay.”
The answer did not frighten her.
May you like
Boundaries were becoming ordinary.
That was perhaps the clearest sign of safety yet.
