Chapter 15 - OLIVIA'S GUILT
Olivia began having nightmares.
Clara discovered it by accident.
At two in the morning, she heard movement in the hallway.
Olivia was sitting on the floor outside Emma's room.
"What are you doing?"
Olivia wiped her face.
"Nothing."
Clara sat beside her.
"That's not nothing."
Olivia stared through the open doorway at Emma sleeping peacefully.
"I keep seeing the stroller."
Clara's expression softened.
"Me too."
Olivia looked down.
"I should've stopped Vanessa."
"You couldn't have known."
"I knew she was acting weird."
"That isn't the same thing."
"I recorded her."
"I saw the messages."
"I knew she hated you."
Clara placed one hand over Olivia's.
"You are sixteen."
"Vanessa is an adult."
"She made those choices."
Olivia's voice broke.
"But what if I hadn't been recording?"
Clara understood.
"Your dad might still believe her."
Olivia nodded.
Tears spilled down her face.
Clara pulled her closer.
"But you were recording."
"You did speak."
"You saved the truth."
Olivia leaned against her.
"I hated Dad for hitting you."
Clara closed her eyes.
"For a few days, I didn't even want to talk to him."
"That's okay."
"He keeps apologizing to me."
Clara looked surprised.
"For what?"
"For making me afraid of him."
Olivia swallowed.
"He said seeing him hit you might have changed the way I see him forever."
Clara remained quiet.
"He told me I didn't have to forgive him just because he's my dad."
Clara looked toward Emma.
Adrian was learning.
Painfully.
Slowly.
But he was learning.
The following afternoon, Olivia asked Clara to drive her home.
Not Rachel's home.
Adrian's.
Clara hesitated.
"You sure?"
Olivia nodded.
"Dad and I need to talk."
When they arrived, Adrian was repairing a loose cabinet hinge in the kitchen.
He looked startled when Clara entered.
Then he saw Olivia.
"Hey."
Olivia placed her backpack down.
"I want to stay here tonight."
Adrian smiled slightly.
"I'd like that."
Olivia did not smile back.
"But we need rules."
Adrian put down the screwdriver.
"Okay."
"If you get angry, you don't scare people."
"Okay."
"If Clara comes home someday, Vanessa never comes back."
"Agreed."
"And you don't tell me to forgive Aunt Vanessa because she's family."
Adrian's face hardened.
"I won't."
Olivia took a breath.
"And I need you to say something."
"What?"
She looked toward Clara.
Then back at her father.
"Say what you did."
Adrian understood.
His eyes filled.
"I hit Clara."
"Why?"
"Because I was angry and I made a violent choice."
Olivia waited.
"Was it Clara's fault?"
"No."
"Was it Aunt Vanessa's fault?"
"No."
Adrian's voice cracked.
"It was mine."
Olivia finally began crying.
She walked toward him.
Adrian did not move until she hugged him first.
Then he wrapped his arms around his daughter.
Clara watched from the doorway.
May you like
Repair did not mean pretending something never happened.
It meant being brave enough to name it.
