Primary physical custody remained with me. Rachel received regular visitation under a parenting plan that prohibited overnight stays with unrelated partners for a specified period, barred Eleanor from unsupervised care, and required continued counseling. The judge did not call Rachel cruel — judges rarely use the words families need to hear — but the order said enough.
It said instability. It said poor judgment. It said compromised emotional environment.
And because the law speaks slowly, that was its version of the truth.
Sofia got better.
That is the part people always ask about last, when it should be first.
She got louder again. She started drawing suns instead of dark corners. She stopped looking at every adult before answering a question. Her hugs came back gradually, then all at once one morning when I was making waffles and she threw herself at my waist so hard she nearly sent batter everywhere. She began talking in the car again — endless seven-year-old monologues about playground politics, which teacher had the nicest handwriting, and why squirrels looked suspicious.