Chapter 11 – The Visitor Who Had to Ask
Three weeks after the move, Ruth asked if she could visit.
The message was addressed to Nate alone. It mentioned bringing something for the baby and helping Maya before she became more uncomfortable.
Nate showed Maya the message before answering.
“We decide together,” he said.
Maya read it twice.
“She hasn’t said what she did.”
He nodded. His reply asked Ruth to address the changed delivery, what she had told Eli, and the shove. He did not give her the new address or promise a visit in exchange for an apology.
Several days passed.
Then an email arrived for both of them.
Ruth wrote that she had told Eli his parents agreed when they had not. She had changed the moving job because she believed she knew what Nate’s household needed. When Maya stopped her, she had pushed her.
For the first time, Ruth had named the push herself.
Near the end, she wrote: I kept thinking of what I wanted this baby to mean for me. I treated Eli as someone you could put somewhere else. I was wrong.
Maya felt relief and anger at the same time. An honest sentence did not remove the memory of her knee hitting the floor, or the sound of Eli asking which house she was going to.
They answered with clear conditions. There would be no unannounced visits, no decisions made through Eli, and no requests that he keep conversations secret from his parents. If she wanted to be part of their lives, both children had to be included.
They would start slowly.
When Eli asked about Grandma one evening, Maya told him she had admitted she was wrong to say his parents had agreed.
“Can I ask her why?”
Maya looked at Nate.
“If you want a short call, we can sit with you.”
He thought about it until the next day.
During the call, Ruth sounded less certain than he remembered.
“Mom and Dad didn’t say yes?” Eli asked.
“No. They didn’t.”
“Then why did you tell me?”
There was a pause.
“I wanted my plan to happen. I should have asked them instead of telling you it was decided.”
Eli twisted the cord of his hoodie.
“I wanted to stay with Dad.”
“I know,” Ruth said quietly. “I’m sorry.”
He did not say it was all right. A few minutes later, he asked if he could finish building his train track. Maya said yes, and the call ended.
Eli ended the call when he was ready. The adults let that be enough for one afternoon.
Nate helped Eli find the missing track piece beneath the sofa. Maya put the kettle on.
Before bed, Eli set his small backpack on the hook by the front door instead of beside his pillow.
He still checked the next day’s plans sometimes. They kept answering him.