I don’t know what to do with that.
So, I do the only thing that feels safe.
I ignore it.
Chapter 40
Ethan
Lily had been drawing nonstop lately. A whole forest of stick-figure masterpieces ended up on the kitchen table every day.
Dragons, unicorns, pictures of the house, pictures of Grandma with her cast… and then she handed me one I wasn’t prepared for.
“Look, Uncle Ethan! It’s you and Claire!”
My stomach dropped.
The drawing was simple, two stick figures holding hands, both smiling, a heart floating lopsided above us like it had been added as a final thought. I felt my ears heat up.
I forced a smile. “It’s great, bug.”
But inside I was panicking.
I didn’t want Claire to see this. Not because it was embarrassing, though it absolutely was. But because I didn’t want to make things weird for her. She was finally talking to me without caution. I wasn’t screwing that up.
So when Lily got distracted, I slid the picture into the middle of a stack of her drawings.
Not throwing it away, I couldn’t do that.
Just… hiding it.
???
In therapy, later that day, Nora asked, “Anything new at home?”
I debated saying nothing.
But for once, I was trying not to lie to myself.
“Lily made a drawing,” I mumbled. “Of… me and Claire. Holding hands.”
Nora didn’t laugh, like I half expected her to. Instead, she just smiled warm, knowing.
“And how did that make you feel?”
I rubbed a hand over my face. “Like I wanted to crawl under the floorboards.”
“Ethan,” she said gently, “children draw what makes them feel safe.”
I blinked at her. Safe?
She nodded. “Lily isn’t imagining romance. She’s imagining connection. She sees the two of you working together, helping her, creating stability. That’s why she drew it.”
That thought sat heavy.
Safe, steady.
Words I never expected to be associated with me.
