The Son Who Had to Grieve Twice
Chapter 15 - The Son Who Had to Grieve Twice
Ethan believed anger would disappear once Charles was sentenced.
Instead, grief arrived.
He grieved his mother’s missing years.
He grieved the father he thought he had.
He grieved the possibility that some childhood memories were real and loving even though the man inside them later committed unforgivable harm.
One evening, he sat in the unfinished Hawthorne Center surrounded by blueprints.
Laura found him there.
“I don’t know what to do with the good memories,” he admitted.
She sat beside him.
“You keep them.”
He looked at her.
“Doesn’t that betray you?”
“No.”
Laura stared toward the old library.
“Charles was not cruel every minute. That is why it took me so long to recognize what was happening.”
Ethan’s eyes filled.
“I should have looked for you.”
“You were eleven.”
“I stopped wanting to.”
“You were taught that I left.”
He covered his face.
Laura touched his shoulder.
“I do not need you to punish the child you were to prove you love me now.”
Ethan leaned against her.
It felt awkward at first.
Then familiar in a way his body remembered before his mind did.
They sat together until the construction lights clicked off automatically.
The next morning, Ethan added a room to the center’s plans.
A family memory room.
May you like
A place where people could keep photographs without being forced to choose whether the past was entirely good or entirely bad.
Laura approved it immediately.
