Chapter 14 - Mateo Took Down One Photograph
Months earlier, Camille might have interpreted the act as victory.
Now she understood differently.
Mateo stood in the upstairs hallway looking at the family photographs.
Elena.
Their wedding.
Baby Lila.
Mateo holding his first daughter.
Then newer photographs.
Mateo and Camille.
The pregnancy announcement.
Noah.
One enormous wedding portrait of Mateo and Camille dominated the wall outside the nursery.
Camille had once hated that the older photographs of Elena made her feel secondary.
So Mateo had added the wedding portrait to reassure her.
It did not help.
Now he removed it.
Camille watched.
“Why?”
“Because this hallway doesn’t need one giant answer about what our family is.”
He replaced it with three smaller photographs.
One of Lila with Elena as a baby.
One of Mateo and Camille laughing during an ordinary picnic.
One of Lila touching Noah’s tiny foot while Mateo held him.
No hierarchy.
No replacement.
History beside present.
Camille looked at Elena’s photograph.
“I used to wish you’d move that one somewhere else.”
“I know.”
“I’m glad you didn’t.”
Mateo nodded.
Then asked:
“Do you want me to put our wedding photo somewhere else?”
Camille thought.
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“Downstairs. With the others.”
Not destroyed.
Not worshiped.
Part of history.
That was enough.
As Mateo rehung the frames, Lila appeared holding the pink notebook.
“Daddy.”
“What?”
“You put Noah picture crooked.”
Mateo looked.
She was right.
He adjusted it.
“How’s that?”
Lila squinted dramatically.
“Better.”
Camille laughed.
Lila looked at her.
Then smiled a little.
Tiny.
Unforced.
May you like
No one celebrated.
That would have scared it away.
