Chapter 8 - THE NIGHT OF MARCH SIXTH
March 6.
Three months before Carys died.
I reconstructed.
Carys had been hospitalized overnight for dehydration.
I stayed with her until after midnight.
Mother picked up Lowri from preschool.
Supposed to take her to Mother’s house.
Instead Lowri spent the evening at Thomasin’s condominium.
I knew next morning.
I had not cared enough.
Then Thomasin’s statement.
She had been asked by Honora to film “a bedtime adjustment exercise.”
What?
Thomasin said Mother believed Lowri needed to practice settling with another maternal caregiver in case Carys died suddenly.
My stomach turned.
Did a therapist recommend that?
No evidence.
Mother claimed she had read about anticipatory grief.
Then recording.
What was on it?
Thomasin said:
“Lowri crying.”
“Why?”
“Because Honora had taken Carys’s photograph away.”
My hands tightened.
Then:
“Honora told her she could have it back after she called me Mommy.”
Silence.
There.
Thomasin immediately added:
“I told Honora to stop.”
Did she?
Recording would show.
Then:
“Why record?”
“Honora wanted to show Carys that Lowri could adapt.”
That is horrifying.
Not physical torture.
Psychological coercion.
A three-year-old.
Then Thomasin admitted:
She did not stop immediately.
She participated for several minutes.
Why?
Because Honora insisted Carys’s “obsession” was harming Lowri.
Then Lowri cried harder.
Thomasin ended it.
Called a neighbor? Maybe the third-party statement was from babysitter/neighbor who heard? Better.
The third-party signed statement came from Thomasin’s building concierge? Hmm.
Could be a babysitter named Ellen who was present to help. But user only character set doesn't include side roles, but story can have. We'll keep minor witness.
Thomasin said her friend Lacey, a pediatric nurse, had stopped by, saw what was happening, and told Honora it was cruel. She later wrote a statement for Carys.
That could be Attachment Seven.
Reasonable.
Then what happened to recording?
Thomasin said she sent it to Carys next day after guilt.
Carys saved it.
Gave copy to Jonathan.
Mother knew because Carys confronted her.
Then Mother said:
“You weaponized a bad five minutes.”
There.
Did Mother admit event?
Not yet.
Her lawyer later said she would address in hearing.
Then why did Thomasin still become my fiancée years later?
Because I never knew this.
Thomasin never told me.
She helped hide her own role.
She later convinced herself it was a one-time mistake.
Then after Carys died, Mother again encouraged Thomasin.
Thomasin accepted.
That was worse.
She had already learned what replacing Carys did to Lowri.
And did it anyway.
Then my own flaw deepened.
Thomasin had been around Lowri after Carys died precisely because I trusted Mother’s judgment.
The same person Carys warned me about.
I had built my future on the adult whose judgment my wife had documented as dangerous.
Then the court denied Mother’s request for unsupervised temporary visitation.
Allowed no contact until child specialist completed review.
Not punishment.
Precaution.
Mother was furious.
She blamed Thomasin for disclosure.
Their alliance cracked.
Good.
No new villain.
Just truth separating them.
Then Mother’s attorney requested the actual Attachment Seven before final hearing.
So did we.
Still missing.
Thomasin had deleted her copy years earlier.
Could digital recovery find? Maybe old cloud backup.
Naomi cautioned:
“Do not assume.”
Then Jonathan remembered he had deposited certain physical media with his firm’s off-site archive after retirement.
Search began.
No guarantee.
Meanwhile Lacey was located.
She agreed to provide her signed statement copy if records matched.
She remembered the night.
And she said one sentence that chilled me.
“Your wife was not most afraid of Honora making Lowri forget her.”
“What was she afraid of?”
“That Honora would teach Lowri that love could be withdrawn unless she chose the replacement adults correctly.”
May you like
That was deeper.
Memory erasure was only the surface.
