Chapter 9 - ANDREW’S CHOICE
Andrew moved out for six months.
That was not a dramatic punishment.
It was a boundary.
I could not rebuild trust while he was still asking me to soften the damage for him.
He had to become a safe father before I could decide whether he could remain my husband.
Martha was cut off completely.
No extra card.
No key.
No school pickup.
No visits.
No phone calls to Ethan.
No access to Sophie.
She wrote letters.
The first said she had only done what any grandmother would do.
The second blamed Jenna.
The third blamed me.
The fourth said Andrew owed her loyalty.
None mentioned Sophie crying on the floor.
None mentioned Ethan’s stolen letters.
None said:
I was wrong.
So they stayed unopened after that.
Jenna entered Ethan’s life slowly.
Video calls first.
Therapy-supported.
Short.
Gentle.
Awkward.
The first time Ethan saw her face on the screen, he stared like he was looking at a ghost who knew his name.
Jenna did not ask him to call her Mom.
She said:
“Hi, Ethan. I’m really glad to see you.”
He said:
“Hi.”
Then showed her his dinosaur book.
She cried after the call ended.
So did I.
Andrew watched from across the room, pale and quiet.
He had not lost Ethan.
But he had lost the fantasy that Ethan’s love proved his choices had been harmless.
That was necessary.
In counseling, Andrew admitted the thing I had needed him to say.
“I let my mother make Jenna the villain because it made me less afraid.”
I asked:
“And me?”
He looked at me.
“I let her make you difficult for the same reason.”
That honesty did not fix everything.
May you like
But lies stop healing before it starts.
At least now we had a beginning.
