Chapter 4 - The Place They Planned to Send Him
I read the email three times.
I still could not understand it.
Residential placement.
Four years old.
My son was four years old.
Dominic had written that Leo exhibited violent tendencies.
He claimed Leo was dangerous around other children.
He described uncontrollable aggression.
Self-harming behaviors.
Developmental impairment.
None of it matched the child I remembered.
More importantly, none of it matched the child trembling in my arms.
“What facility?” I asked.
Eleanor handed me the information.
Waverly Pediatric Behavioral Center.
A private residential program three hours away.
Dominic had scheduled an assessment.
Victoria had been listed as secondary guardian.
Brooke had been listed as emergency household contact.
My name was nowhere.
“They were going to send him away.”
Eleanor did not soften it.
“Yes.”
Leo was asleep by then.
Exhaustion had finally defeated fear.
I carried him into the guest room of the secure residence Eleanor arranged.
Dr. Keller examined him after he woke.
The assessment took nearly two hours.
She documented poor nutrition.
Old bruising.
Untreated skin irritation around his knees.
Extreme startle responses.
Language regression.
Fear around raised voices.
And something that made her stop writing.
Leo panicked when she placed a plate of crackers on the table.
He dropped to the floor.
Then waited.
Naomi looked at me.
“Leo.”
He did not move.
“Sweetheart, you can eat at the table.”
He shook his head.
“No table.”
My throat closed.
“Why not?”
Leo pressed his forehead to the carpet.
“Bad boys floor.”
Naomi looked away for one second.
Even doctors need moments.
I crouched beside him.
“Who told you that?”
He stared at the floor.
“Grandma.”
I felt something inside me turn to ice.
“Did Daddy say that too?”
Leo’s lips trembled.
No answer.
I did not force him.
Naomi finished the evaluation.
When she joined me in the hallway, her voice was quiet.
“This didn’t happen in one week.”
“I know.”
“He has been conditioned to expect punishment.”
I closed my eyes.
“Can he recover?”
“Yes.”
She answered immediately.
“But recovery will depend on consistency.”
“Safety.”
“Patience.”
“And never forcing him to perform normalcy for adults.”
I nodded.
Then Eleanor approached.
“The court granted temporary emergency custody.”
“For how long?”
“Until the hearing.”
“When?”
“Forty-eight hours.”
I looked through the doorway at Leo.
He had fallen asleep holding the crackers.
Eleanor continued.
“There is another problem.”
I was beginning to hate those words.
“What?”
“Dominic retained counsel.”
“That’s expected.”
“No.”
She handed me a filing.
“He is claiming you abandoned Leo when you moved overseas.”
I stared at her.
“I went to Singapore for his company.”
“I know.”
“He signed the assignment.”
“I know.”
“He visited twice.”
“I know.”
“He is claiming those visits were attempts to persuade you to return.”
I laughed.
It sounded strange even to me.
Then Eleanor showed me the last paragraph.
Dominic was seeking primary custody.
Not because he wanted Leo.
May you like
Because if he kept legal control of our son, he could also keep control of something I had forgotten existed.
Leo’s trust.
