Chapter 7 - Mason and Lily Had Been Feeding Grandma Under the Table
The children had found their own solution.
Crackers.
Granola bars.
Half sandwiches.
Apple slices wrapped in napkins.
They hid them inside the bottom drawer of the toy cabinet.
Mason showed me.
“I give Grandma these after Mom goes upstairs.”
Lily added proudly:
“I gave her pudding.”
I had to look away for a second.
My children had been running a secret food system for their grandmother while I sat in meetings believing Eleanor had lost her appetite.
“How long?”
Mason counted backward.
“Since before my spelling test.”
Almost five weeks.
Mom tried to stop them at first.
She did not want children sneaking food or lying to their mother.
Then hunger won.
One evening Mason asked:
“Grandma, why doesn’t Mom let you eat?”
Eleanor told him:
“Adults are having a disagreement.”
That was all.
She refused to recruit the children against Chloe.
Even while Chloe was already using them in her story.
The Brookfield intake packet claimed:
Grandchildren have expressed discomfort around Eleanor’s unpredictable behavior.
Neither child had ever said that.
When I asked Mason directly, his face twisted.
“I’m not scared of Grandma.”
Lily looked offended.
“Grandma reads to me.”
That lie made me angrier than the rest.
Chloe had not only manipulated my view of my mother.
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She had placed words into our children’s mouths to strengthen the case for removing her.
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