Chapter 4 - “DADDY SAID”
Once I knew what to listen for, Mia started giving me pieces.
Never in one dramatic confession.
Children rarely work that way.
We were coloring at the kitchen table when she said:
“Vanessa says Daddy wants me to sleep here more.”
My pencil stopped.
“When?”
“After the wedding.”
“Did Daddy tell you that?”
“No.”
“Did Vanessa say he told her?”
Mia nodded.
Another day:
“Daddy doesn’t like when I call during dinner.”
Another:
“Vanessa says grown-ups need private weekends.”
Another:
“If they have a baby, I can visit after the baby gets bigger.”
Always the same authority.
Daddy said.
Daddy wants.
Daddy needs.
I called Ethan.
“Have you asked Mia to spend less time at your house?”
“No.”
“Did you tell Vanessa you want fewer calls?”
“No.”
“Did you say Mia shouldn’t visit if you have another baby?”
“What? No.”
He sounded genuinely horrified.
Then I asked:
“Have you ever said anything remotely similar?”
Silence.
That mattered.
“Ethan.”
“I've complained that scheduling is hard.”
“How?”
“I don't know.”
“Try.”
He exhaled.
“Sometimes I say we can't make every weekend decision around custody.”
There it was.
Not abandonment.
Not replacement.
A frustrated adult sentence.
But Vanessa apparently translated it for a child.
Daddy wants fewer weekends.
I asked:
“What else?”
He hesitated.
“I said once that if Mia ever wanted more stability at your house during the school year, I wouldn't fight it.”
“Who were you talking to?”
“Vanessa.”
“Not me.”
“No.”
“Not Mia.”
“No.”
“And when?”
“Maybe four months ago.”
Four months.
Around the time Mia started asking whether Daddy still needed her.
Ethan sounded sick.
“I didn't mean I wanted her gone.”
“I know.”
“Then why would Vanessa—”
May you like
I interrupted.
“That is the question.”
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