Chapter 16 - CELESTE WRITES HER OWN POSTPARTUM PLAN
Celeste did not want another legal packet.
Understandable.
Naomi convinced her to create one anyway.
Her own.
Simple.
Delivery hospital.
Primary obstetrician.
Pediatrician.
Authorized visitors.
Who could receive information.
Who could not.
Emergency contact.
Discharge.
Parenting decisions.
No Marina.
No Helena.
Could Celeste change it later?
Yes.
That mattered.
Real consent can be withdrawn and revised where law allows.
Then temporary incapacity.
What if Celeste had a serious medical complication during delivery?
I was the other parent.
I would care for Leo.
What if both of us were incapacitated?
We needed a standby guardian nomination.
That conversation stopped me.
Celeste looked at me.
“Not your mother.”
“Agreed.”
“Not Marina.”
“Agreed.”
We chose Celeste’s older cousin Evelyn, a pediatric physical therapist with two children.
Not a dramatic new power player.
A reliable person.
Then alternate.
My longtime friend Jonah Bell.
Paperwork completed with independent counsel.
No family office.
No Helena.
No symbolic heir committee.
Then Celeste asked:
“Does this feel like betrayal?”
“Of who?”
“Your family.”
I thought.
“No.”
Then corrected.
“It would have once.”
She looked at me.
“What changed?”
“You got wet on my marble floor because I kept pretending boundaries could stay polite forever.”
She stared.
“Damian.”
“What?”
“That was almost emotional.”
“Don’t spread it around.”
May you like
She smiled.
I lived for that smile more than I should admit.
