Chapter 6 - THE FAMILY MEETING
By noon, half the family believed Anna was dangerous.
By two o'clock, I decided to stop defending ourselves privately.
I invited the people Mom had contacted to our house.
Aunt Linda came.
My uncle Robert came.
Two cousins came.
Claire sat beside Anna.
Mom arrived last.
She walked through the front door like she still owned it.
She looked at me.
"So this is an ambush."
"No."
I closed the door behind her.
"This is the truth."
She looked toward Anna.
"Whatever she's told you—"
"I watched the video."
Mom stopped.
"What video?"
I turned on the television.
The kitchen footage began.
Nobody spoke.
They watched Mom follow Anna.
They watched her grab Anna's arm.
They watched Anna try to pull away.
They watched my mother seize her hair.
Then they watched me enter.
When the recording ended, Aunt Linda looked sick.
"Margaret."
Mom lifted her chin.
"You don't know what happened before that."
I almost admired the speed of the lie.
"So tell us."
"She insulted me."
Anna looked at her.
"I asked you to let me sleep."
Mom ignored her.
"She's been poisoning Ethan against me for months."
Claire placed the fake guardianship papers on the table.
"Did she poison you into forging her signature too?"
Mom's face changed.
Only slightly.
But everyone saw it.
Aunt Linda picked up the paper.
"What is this?"
Mom crossed her arms.
"Precaution."
"For what?"
"For my grandson."
I felt something inside me go cold.
"He's my son."
"And you clearly aren't thinking rationally."
I stared at her.
She pointed at Anna.
"That woman has been planning to leave you."
Anna flinched.
Mom smiled.
"I knew about the apartment fund."
I stepped between them.
"She created that fund because she was afraid of you."
"No."
Mom's eyes narrowed.
"She created it because she doesn't trust you."
For once, the words did not work.
I had spent thirty-six years letting my mother define what everything meant.
I was finished.
"You are not coming back to this house."
She laughed once.
"You're throwing away your mother."
"I'm protecting my wife."
"You'll come begging when she takes your child and leaves."
"Maybe."
I surprised myself with the answer.
"But if my marriage fails, it will be because of Anna and me."
I looked directly at her.
"Not because you manipulated it."
Mom's face went red.
Then she turned to Claire.
"You think you're better than me?"
Claire shook her head.
"No."
Her voice trembled.
"I just finally stopped being scared of you."
Mom looked around the room.
For the first time in my life, nobody rushed to comfort her.
Nobody apologized.
Nobody begged her to stay.
She grabbed her purse.
At the door, she turned toward Anna.
"You think you won."
Anna stood slowly.
"No."
She rested a hand over her stomach.
"I think my baby deserves peace."
Mom walked out.
Ten seconds later, Anna gasped.
Her hand flew to her belly.
Then water spread across the floor beneath her.
Anna looked at me.
"Ethan."
May you like
Her eyes widened.
"This time it's real."
