Chapter 14 - Maisie Asked Why Grandma Didn’t Want Her
Maisie recovered more slowly than the adults wanted.
She became frightened by chains.
Stopped wanting birthday decorations near the porch.
For weeks she asked if Callum was still her father.
Every time, I answered:
“Yes.”
Then:
“Will he stop being my dad if Grandma says so?”
“No.”
One night she asked the harder question.
“Why didn’t Grandma want me?”
I could have told her Lenore was sick.
Confused.
Controlling.
None of those words would mean much to a six-year-old.
So I said:
“Grandma wanted Daddy to make her the most important person. When he loved other people, she sometimes acted like that love was being taken away from her.”
Maisie frowned.
“But love doesn’t run out.”
Exactly.
“No, sweetheart. It doesn’t.”
She thought about it.
Then said:
“She could’ve just come to my party.”
That broke my heart.
Because that was all Maisie had wanted.
A grandmother at her birthday party.
Not a test.
Not loyalty.
Not victory.
Just family.
Lenore had turned love into competition.
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A child understood how unnecessary that was better than any adult involved.
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