Chapter 5 - THE BEDROOM THAT HAD ALREADY BEEN MEASURED
Three days after the wedding, I went to Ethan’s house with him to collect Mia’s things.
Mia refused to sleep there while Vanessa remained.
I was not forcing her.
Ethan agreed.
For now.
Her bedroom looked normal.
Lavender comforter.
Books.
Stuffed animals.
Then I noticed blue painter’s tape on one wall.
Small measurement marks.
“What is that?”
Ethan frowned.
“No idea.”
In the closet, several boxes were stacked behind Mia’s clothes.
Labels:
OFFICE
GUEST ROOM
STORAGE
One said:
MIA — CLAIRE
I stared.
Ethan went completely still.
“What?”
I pointed.
He pulled the box down.
Inside were framed photographs.
Books.
Art supplies.
Half of Mia’s stuffed animals.
Already packed.
He sat on the edge of the bed.
“I didn't do this.”
I believed him.
That was becoming the problem.
Vanessa had apparently been reorganizing his home without telling him what the reorganization meant.
Then we found an invoice from a custom-closet company.
Primary bedroom.
Guest room.
“Future nursery.”
And:
Convert existing child bedroom to home office after January 15.
January 15.
Six weeks away.
Ethan read it twice.
Then called Vanessa.
Speakerphone.
“What happens January fifteenth?”
Silence.
“What are you talking about?”
“Mia’s room.”
Another silence.
Then:
“We discussed this.”
“No.”
“Yes, Ethan.”
“When?”
“You said the current schedule isn't sustainable.”
“I said travel was difficult.”
“And you said Claire could keep Mia more during school weeks.”
“More is not no bedroom.”
Vanessa’s voice sharpened.
“She uses it six nights a month.”
Mia had actually been there closer to eleven or twelve.
But the number was revealing.
Vanessa had been counting.
“Why are her things boxed?”
“Because we need a functional home.”
“For whom?”
“For us.”
There.
Not for Mia.
Us.
Ethan ended the call.
Then sat in his daughter’s partially packed bedroom staring at the label bearing my name.
Not:
Mia.
MIA — CLAIRE.
May you like
Vanessa had already mentally reassigned my daughter to my household.
And apparently believed Ethan would eventually accept it.
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