Chapter 13
Gloria asked to see Vivienne after four months.
Not Noah.
Vivienne.
That helped.
My wife agreed.
Meeting at a neutral garden property.
No estate.
No baby.
I waited nearby but not at the table.
Gloria arrived thinner.
Less polished.
She looked like an elderly woman rather than a matriarch.
Maybe because authority had been doing part of the styling.
Vivienne sat across from her.
I heard only pieces.
“I thought I was saving you.”
“You were trying to own the outcome.”
“I was afraid.”
“So was I.”
Then silence.
Gloria cried.
Vivienne did not rush to comfort her.
Important.
Eventually Gloria said:
“Do you hate me?”
Vivienne answered:
“No.”
Her mother looked relieved.
Too soon.
“I don’t trust you.”
Relief disappeared.
That was more honest than hatred.
Gloria asked whether she would ever see Noah.
Vivienne said:
“I don’t know.”
No promise.
No deadline.
Gloria nodded.
Progress.
Then she asked:
“Can I apologize to Camille?”
Vivienne looked toward me.
I shrugged.
Not my call.
Camille later said yes.
Gloria apologized specifically.
The slap.
Taking Noah.
Treating Camille like an obstacle.
Camille accepted the apology.
Not reconciliation.
Another distinction our families badly needed.
When Gloria left, she did not ask for a photograph of Noah.
May you like
That was the first sign I believed she might actually be changing.
She left without taking something.
