Chapter 21 - ELARA READS SECTION NINE
At twenty-one, Elara asked to read the original Section Nine documents.
All of them.
Including the postpartum petition.
I hesitated.
Then remembered whose story it also was.
We read together.
She stopped at:
Maternal pumping support may occur in guest residence.
Her face changed.
“She wanted you somewhere else?”
“Yes.”
“And me with her?”
“Yes.”
“Would court have allowed it?”
“Not automatically.”
“Did Dad agree?”
Callan answered.
“I knew Grandma wanted a family postpartum arrangement. I did not know she had written this version.”
“Did you tell her no?”
He looked down.
“Not soon enough.”
Elara nodded.
No comforting him.
Good.
Then she read Graham’s contingency fund.
“Grandpa left money in case Grandma used money against you.”
“Yes.”
“That is deeply dysfunctional.”
“Yes.”
Then Section Nine.
Food.
Housing.
Custody.
Medical care.
No coercion.
Elara said:
“He really knew her.”
Callan answered:
“He knew part of her.”
Important.
Sabina had also built hospitals.
Negotiated debt.
Sat with Graham through chemotherapy years earlier.
Loved her children.
Hurt people.
All true.
Elara closed the binder.
“My legacy isn’t this, right?”
I smiled.
“What do you think?”
“I think legacy is a word rich families use when they want normal decisions to sound historical.”
May you like
Callan laughed for a full minute.
Graham would have hated and loved her.
