Chapter 12 - Julian’s supervised visits
Julian’s first supervised visit lasted ninety minutes.
Family-center room.
Toys.
Two cameras for staff monitoring, not secret recording.
Lily saw him.
Stopped.
Then ran into his arms.
That hurt me.
Not because I wanted her to reject him.
Because love does not obey moral clarity.
“Daddy.”
He held her.
Cried.
“I’m sorry.”
Lily touched the space where the tooth had been.
“Aunt Chloe knocked it.”
“I know.”
“You said leash.”
Julian’s face collapsed.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
He looked toward the supervisor.
Then at Lily.
“Because I was angry and I said something cruel.”
She stared.
“At me?”
“Yes.”
That was the correct answer.
No:
At Mom.
No:
I didn’t mean you.
Then:
“You should not have said it.”
“No.”
“Did you want a leash?”
“No.”
Good.
Five-year-old concern answered.
He spent the rest of the visit building blocks.
When Lily knocked a tower over, she froze for half a second.
Julian saw.
He said:
“It’s blocks.”
She relaxed.
Small repair.
May you like
Not enough.
Still real.
