Chapter 8: Contact
The first formal parenting communication arrived through the attorney’s portal at the end of the week.
Marcus requested a video call with Lily and a timeline for her return to Columbus. The language was controlled, almost polite. It made no reference to the piano. It made no reference to Vanessa. It framed the separation as a temporary overreaction that required correction for Lily’s sake.
I drafted a response with the attorney’s guidance: short, factual, focused on interim stability and the upcoming temporary orders hearing. No emotional engagement. No debate about the past.
Lily and I discussed the video call in advance.
“You can talk to him if you want,” I told her. “You can also say you’re not ready. Both answers are allowed.”
She thought for a long time, fox in her lap.
“I’ll say hi,” she decided. “But I don’t want to talk about the piano. Or Ethan.”
“You don’t have to talk about anything you don’t want to.”
May you like
The call lasted eleven minutes. Marcus’s face on the screen looked tired. He asked about school, about the house, about whether she was eating. Lily answered in short, careful sentences. When he began to steer toward coming home, she looked at me, then said, “I’m staying with Mom right now.” The call ended soon after without escalation.
Afterward she was quiet for nearly an hour. Then she asked if we could walk to the park at the end of Rachel’s street. We did. She did not mention the call again that day.
