Chapter 19 - Niles Sees Eugenia
First visit came eighteen months after birthday.
Niles was six and a half.
He asked:
“Can Grandma say sorry?”
Not:
Can I see her?
He wanted correction.
Therapeutic visit.
Dr. Celia present.
Roderick nearby.
I observed.
Eugenia entered without pearls.
I noticed.
Niles held a plastic stegosaurus.
“Hi.”
“Hi, sweetheart.”
Dr. Celia reminded:
“Use his name.”
Eugenia corrected.
“Hi, Niles.”
Good.
Then:
“You put trash.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Eugenia took a breath.
“I was angry because I was losing control of company votes and I convinced myself a bad DNA test meant you might not be Dad’s biological son.”
Niles frowned.
“Too many words.”
Dr. Celia simplified.
“Grandma was angry about adult company rules and used a confusing test as an excuse.”
Niles looked at Eugenia.
“Did Daddy say?”
“No.”
“Did Mommy lie?”
“No.”
“Am I trash?”
Eugenia’s face broke.
“No.”
“Then why say?”
“Because I wanted to hurt your mother and father and I said something cruel about you.”
There.
Niles thought.
Then:
“Did I take company?”
“No.”
She corrected.
“The trust changed votes on your birthday because Grandpa Silas wrote it that way.”
“Did I do?”
“No.”
“Then why mad me?”
Eugenia cried.
“I should not have been.”
That was the truth a child could understand.
Then:
“Can you hug?”
Eugenia asked.
Niles shook head.
“No.”
“Okay.”
Good.
Visit lasted fourteen minutes.
Not a family reunion.
May you like
No access restored.
But a lie corrected.
