Chapter 5 - DAD’S FOLDER
Dad brought the folder the morning after my correction.
Paper.
Printed emails.
Texts.
Handwritten notes.
Nothing secret obtained illegally.
Messages Theodora had sent him.
Some family group texts.
Some private.
The first was from two months before Marcellus’s birth.
THEODORA:
Your older daughter needs this baby in her life.
ANSELM:
She needs support, not someone else’s baby.
THEODORA:
Don’t be dramatic.
Then:
THEODORA:
Lissette is going to make motherhood her whole personality and freeze her sister out.
Dad replied:
ANSELM:
Lissette is allowed to be the mother of her own child.
There.
Then after birth:
THEODORA:
Marcellus settles better with his aunt.
ANSELM:
He is ten days old.
THEODORA:
That’s why impressions matter now.
That sentence chilled me.
Impressions.
Then another:
THEODORA:
If we let Lissette establish all the routines, she will never loosen her grip.
Dad:
Why should she?
No response.
Then my sister’s nursery.
Theodora sent Dad a photograph.
Crib.
Changing table.
Blue blanket.
THEODORA:
See? She is ready.
Dad:
For what?
THEODORA:
To help.
Dad:
Then call it help.
There.
Theodora did not.
She called it balance.
Fairness.
Shared joy.
Then Dad showed me a printed email from Theodora.
Subject:
FAMILY CARE PLAN.
I stared.
“Did you know about this?”
“I thought it was nonsense.”
“What is it?”
Dad looked ashamed.
“Your mother drafted a schedule.”
Monday and Wednesday evenings:
Marcellus with my sister.
One overnight every weekend after eight weeks.
One full weekend monthly after four months.
My mother called it:
Consistent aunt bonding and respite structure.
I had never agreed.
My sister had seen the schedule.
She had written:
This is too much unless Lissette asks.
Good.
Then Theodora:
She won’t ask. That’s the problem.
My stomach twisted.
Then:
If we establish a routine early, she will adjust.
There.
This was not about occasional help.
Theodora believed my consent was an obstacle to be worked around socially.
Not legally.
No custody papers.
No forged documents.
A family campaign.
Then Dad said:
“I should have told you.”
“Yes.”
“I thought she was venting.”
“You saw a schedule for my baby.”
“I know.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because your sister objected too.”
That surprised me.
“Then why did she block me?”
Dad looked at the pages.
“Something changed.”
May you like
That was the question.
What had Theodora told my sister before the party?
