Chapter 17 - AVA’S CHRISTMAS QUESTION
The next Christmas, we did not eat at my house.
Ava refused.
So we rented a private room at a small Italian restaurant.
Eight people.
Me.
Emily.
Ava.
Noah.
Rebecca.
Samuel Reed and his wife.
Margaret? I'm Margaret. Good.
No Linda.
No Ryan.
At dinner, Ava asked:
“Who sits at the head?”
The table was round.
“No one.”
She smiled.
Then Noah said:
“Best table.”
We ate lasagna.
No ham.
No hierarchy.
At dessert, Ava gave me a gift.
A tiny wooden chair ornament.
My chest tightened.
She saw.
“It’s not the bad chair.”
“What is it?”
“Just chair.”
I laughed.
Just chair.
That became our phrase.
I hung it on my tree later.
Not as evidence.
May you like
Not as trauma monument.
A child had reclaimed furniture faster than adults.
