Chapter 15 - MY TRAVEL
I had to examine myself too.
Not because Dominic’s fraud became my fault.
Because parenting arrangements had failed.
Forty-three travel nights before August.
I had missed:
One school conference.
Two therapy sessions.
A dentist appointment.
Dominic attended.
I compensated with money and systems.
Some systems were good.
Some became trust without verification.
I had given Dominic control of the household account because I hated administrative detail.
He knew.
I paid invoices without reading deeply.
That was financial negligence on my part.
Not permission to falsify.
Both.
I changed.
Meridian hired a chief operating officer.
I reduced international travel by about a third.
Not zero.
I set direct provider portals.
School messages to both parents independently.
No single caregiver could change my contact information without verification.
Therapists billed me directly.
Leo had a food plan because of sensory preferences, not restriction.
Safe foods always available.
No adult could use meals as consequence.
Then my anger class.
I finished.
Community service at a family resource center.
I hated the irony.
Then learned to respect it.
One facilitator asked:
“What happens when Leo is threatened?”
“I protect him.”
“And if the threat is emotional?”
“Remove him.”
“And if you are angry?”
“Still remove him.”
“Without hitting?”
“Yes.”
That simple.
Not easy.
Simple.
My misdemeanor case was dismissed after completion.
Record eligible for sealing later depending law.
I did not pretend acquittal.
I had done it.
Then Leo asked:
“Mommy class done?”
“Yes.”
“No more hit?”
“That’s the plan.”
“Even Daddy?”
“Even Daddy.”
He nodded.
May you like
“Good.”
That single word mattered more than dismissal.
