Chapter 8: Boundaries
Gero’s counsel requested mediated contact “for the sake of the unborn child.”
Brenner forwarded the request through proper channels. Beate’s answer was simple and written: no direct contact, no messages, no third-party pressure framed as concern for the pregnancy. All communication would remain with counsel and the investigating authorities. Thomas reviewed the wording once, nodded, and said nothing more. The request was denied.
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In the small house the days acquired ordinary shape. Beate walked short loops in the garden when the weather allowed. She sorted the few clothes Julia had brought and folded them into the same drawer each evening. At night the baby’s movements were the only clock that mattered. Thomas left the landing light on. He did not ask her to talk about the eighteen months. He simply remained present, a fixed point that required no performance of strength.
Julia began researching birth options that did not require Beate to return to the marital hospital where Gero’s name was known. Practical questions replaced the old terror of the next meal being late. The cage was still visible in memory, but its door stayed open, and no one was asking her to walk back through it.
