Chapter 5 - Emma Started Eating Differently After Days at Vanessa’s House
The first sign was:
speed.
Emma would come home and eat:
fast.
Not always.
Enough that I noticed.
One evening she ate an entire bowl of pasta in minutes.
Then asked:
“Can I have more?”
“Yes.”
She looked surprised.
“Really?”
I laughed.
“Of course.”
She ate a second serving.
Caleb said:
“Growth spurt.”
Reasonable.
Then Emma started asking:
“Is this mine?”
Before eating anything.
Apple slices.
Yogurt.
Crackers.
I thought daycare had started teaching:
sharing rules.
I asked:
“Why wouldn’t it be yours?”
She said:
“Aunt Vanessa says don’t touch food unless she says.”
Again:
not automatically sinister.
Adults control meals.
Children ask.
Then one Saturday Emma took a granola bar from my pantry.
She came to me holding it.
“Can I eat this?”
“Yes.”
“Even though Lily isn’t here?”
My stomach tightened.
“What does Lily have to do with it?”
Emma shrugged.
Nothing more.
I should have asked:
more.
May you like
I didn’t.
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