CHAPTER 21: SOPHIE'S QUESTION
Sophie was twelve now. She was becoming a teenager—curious, independent, and fiercely protective of me.
One evening, she came into my room and sat on the edge of my bed.
"Mom, can I ask you something?"
"Of course, baby."
"Why did Grandma do all those things? Why did she hurt us?"
I took a deep breath. I had known this question would come. I had prepared for it. But hearing it from her mouth still felt like a knife in my chest.
"Grandma had a lot of problems, Sophie. She loved your uncle very much. Too much. And she couldn't see that he was wrong."
"But she knew he hurt me. She saw it."
"Yes. She saw it. And she didn't stop him."
"Why?"
"Because she was scared. Scared of losing him. Scared of being alone."
Sophie was quiet for a moment. Then she said, "I don't think I want to see her again."
"You don't have to. I'll never make you see anyone you don't want to see."
"Thank you, Mom."
She hugged me.
And I held her.
Because I knew that this conversation was just the first of many. And that I had to be strong enough to have them all.
My daughter was growing up. And she needed to understand the truth.
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But she also needed to know that she was loved.
And I was never going to let her forget that.
