Chapter 13 - DOMINIC’S QUESTION ABOUT BLOOD
Dominic started checking every bracelet.
Even after Owen removed the hospital bands once testing ended.
He checked clothing labels.
Diaper-bag name tags.
Bottle labels.
If Lucian’s bottle went near Matteo, Dominic corrected the nanny.
“No. Wrong.”
At first we thought it was helpful.
Then Owen said:
“He’s anxious.”
Of course.
A child therapist named Dr. Lena Moss met with him.
Dominic told her:
“Grandma said blood decides.”
Then:
“The scanner said Matteo wasn’t Matteo.”
Then:
“Dad said Aunt Bianca stole him but she didn’t.”
Three adults had taught him identity could shift depending on who spoke loudest.
Dr. Moss asked:
“What makes your dad your dad?”
Dominic:
“He’s Dad.”
Perfect child answer.
Then:
“What makes your brothers your brothers?”
“They cry all night.”
Also perfect.
Then:
“If a bracelet had the wrong name, would they stop being your brothers?”
Dominic thought.
“No.”
“What would change?”
“We’d need to fix the bracelet.”
There.
Therapy sometimes takes adults twenty pages to reach what children can say in six words.
Then he asked me later:
“What if my blood is wrong?”
I did not answer with:
Impossible.
Instead:
“If there were ever a medical reason to test something, we would use good science. But nobody gets to decide whether you belong by waving a scanner.”
“Grandma said blood.”
“Grandma was using blood to control people.”
“Is she still Grandma?”
“Yes.”
He hated that.
“Why?”
“Because family words can stay true even when a person does something wrong.”
“Do I have to see her?”
“No.”
Good.
Then:
“Do you?”
I looked toward the closed study door.
May you like
“No.”
For now, that was enough.
