Chapter 4 - ELLIOT’S NEW JOB
After Rosalie died, Elliot appointed himself Clara’s guardian.
No one asked him.
He simply did it.
If she cried:
“I’ll get Dad.”
If a bottle sat on the counter:
“Is it too warm?”
If someone carried her toward stairs:
“Hold her head.”
He watched adults buckle the car seat.
Counted straps.
Checked sunlight through windows.
At first I called it sweet.
Then Dr. Rebecca Flynn, his grief therapist, corrected me.
“He is seven.”
“I know.”
“He thinks vigilance keeps people alive.”
That stopped me.
Elliot had watched his mother become sick fast.
Now he believed missing one sign could cost another person.
We worked on it.
Adults take care of Clara.
Elliot can love her.
Those are different jobs.
Aurelia disagreed.
Privately.
She told him:
“You’re the man of the children now.”
He told Dr. Flynn.
She told me.
I confronted Aurelia.
“Never say that again.”
She laughed.
“It means responsibility.”
“It means he is seven.”
“He likes helping.”
“Helping is optional.”
Her expression changed.
“You’re raising him soft.”
There.
Rosalie and Aurelia had fought about that before.
Rosalie believed children deserved age.
Aurelia believed powerful families produced strong adults by giving children responsibility early.
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The SUV was not the beginning.
It was the point where philosophy became danger.
