Chapter 8 - ELSIE ASKS WHAT BLOOD MEANS
Children do not wait for adults to finish legal strategy.
Two days after the portrait, Elsie asked:
“Daddy, what is fake blood?”
I was making toast.
Knife stopped.
“What made you think of that?”
“Aunt Lenora.”
Of course.
I sat.
“Your blood is real.”
She looked at her arm.
“I know.”
Good.
Then:
“She said I’m fake blood.”
I considered Dr. Mills’s advice.
Simple.
True.
“No one in our family shares all the same blood.”
She frowned.
“You do.”
“Not all.”
“Mommy?”
“Mommy and I were not related by blood at all.”
That delighted her.
“Ew.”
“Correct.”
Then:
“You grew in another woman’s tummy. Mommy and I adopted you, which means we became your parents through law and love and a lot of paperwork.”
“Paperwork?”
“Terrible amounts.”
“Am I Avery?”
“Yes.”
“Real?”
“Yes.”
“Because judge?”
“Partly.”
“Because you?”
“Yes.”
She thought.
Then:
“Can Aunt Lenora say no?”
“No.”
May you like
That answer I could give without qualification.
Lenora did not control Elsie’s identity.
