Chapter 22 - The first meeting
Victoria and I met with Dr. Ellen Pierce.
No Charles.
No Arthur.
No Gigi.
My mother looked smaller without a party around her.
She asked:
“Do you hate me?”
“No.”
“Do you trust me?”
“Not with Gigi yet.”
She nodded.
Good.
“What would I have to do?”
I hated that framing.
“This isn’t a checklist.”
“Then how do I know?”
“You don’t.”
Her face tightened.
She was accustomed to tasks.
Apologize.
Attend therapy.
Wait six months.
Earn granddaughter.
No.
Trust is not a rewards program.
I said:
“I need to believe that if Arthur or anyone else mistreats Gigi, your first loyalty will be to her safety, not family calm.”
Victoria stared.
“I would.”
“I know you believe that.”
“That’s not enough?”
“No.”
She cried.
Then stopped.
“Fair.”
Evidence.
Over six months, we met four times.
She did not push.
Charles joined once.
He apologized directly for saying:
“Children need discipline.”
Not because children do not.
Because his sentence had been used to validate a slap.
He said:
“I used a true general idea to excuse a specific wrong act.”
My father had apparently been reading therapy books.
May you like
Strange.
Useful.
