Multiple angels warred within Monica’s heart, and she had about ten seconds to settle the dispute with some sort of treaty – some compromise that would explain everything to her daughter without potentially traumatizing her.
“Tell her everything. Make sure she knows that Grandma is a bad person and isn’t someone to go near ever again.”
“Lie. Simply say that she has to go home early. Her family really misses her, too. Everything will be better at school now, too.”
“Distract her by changing the subject. She doesn’t need to know. Keep distracting her until she forgets that anything was going on with her grandma.”
Monica motioned for her daughter to stand between her legs. The water was diverted from Monica’s face to Abigail’s back, which ricocheted the powerful water droplets to the wall.
She smiled.
“Grandma has her way of doing things and her views of how the world so be. One of those things is she thinks it’s okay to take you places without telling your mom and dad where you’re going. For the past few days, I had no idea where you were, Abby. Do you remember that time we went to New York and you wandered away in the hotel?”
Slowly, Abigail nodded.
“I had never felt such a panic in my life. We mothers are like that, honey. All it takes is you walking into something dangerous, or someone bad trying to take you, and the next thing I know, my whole life has crashed to the ground because I’ve lost you forever.” Monica was grateful for the steam in theshower instantly covering her tears as she shed them. Yet she wiped her face before putting her hand back on Abigail’s arm. “That would be the hardest thing in the world for me to endure. As long as I’m alive and you’re a kid, it’s my job to know where you are and how you’re doing. So when Grandma waits for your mom and dad to go away for the weekend and takes you to France without telling us… do you understand, honey?”
“I didn’t know you didn’t know where I was.”
“I know, honey. You didn’t do this on purpose. You’re not in trouble.” With her hands balled into fists, Monica rubbed both of her eyes and sniffed the steam through her nostrils. “Right. Let’s try to get some rest tonight. You can tell me all about your trip.” In fact, she insisted, since it might illuminate some of Isabella’s other motives. “Just because you weren’t supposed to go doesn’t mean you didn’t have a good time, right?”
She listened as Abigail regaled her with tales of a large, fancy house in France and all the good food there was to eat. And the “interesting people,” which consisted of the Beaumonts and their staff, all of whom insisted on speaking French in the hopes of helping Abigail learn it faster. Naturally, Abigail didn’t understand much at all, but she enjoyed it. She was even more excited to learn that she was about to go to Thailand for the first time. Until then, she had never even heard of Southeast Asia.
Monica told her all about the four cardinal directions and the seven continents as they dried off and she brushed her daughter’s hair in front of the bathroom mirror. “There’s the two Americas, right?” she quizzed Abigail while partitioning her hair to make it easier to brush. “You live in North America, but there’s also South America, where they mostly speak Spanish. And Portuguese in Brazil. You remember about Brazil, right?”
“We did a class on it at school. They have a carnival.”
“That’s right. And both sides of your family originally came from the continent Europe. That’s where you visited France.”
Monica thought she heard something in the room but decided to focus on her daughter’s bright face in the foggy mirror. For once, Abigail was happy, probably because she got to share things she learned from school.
“There’s also Africa!”
“Yes, indeed.” Monica moved to the next section of hair. “It’s believed that’s where humans originally came from, you know. And then the first known civilizations came from Mesopotamia, between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.”All of those social studies classes from middle school are coming back to me now.It gave Monica something to think about while brushing Abigail’s fine blond hair, all while she swore she heard another thump in the bedroom.
“Is that in Asia?”
“Technically, I think so. It’s in the Middle East, which is a region, much like Southeast Asia. It’s kinda confusing, yeah?”
“I know the last continent!”
“There are two more, honey.”
“Australartica.”
Monica didn’t know if Abigail said that on purpose, but she was quite chuffed with her wit, so Monica let it go.
Once they were dressed in their pajamas, Monica pitched ideas for dinner since she had a glance at the menu.It might be too early.It didn’t stop Monica from letting Abigail go on ahead into the bedroom so she could turn on the TV.
And gasp.
“Mom!” Giggles hit Monica before fear could. “You didn’t tell me!”
Monica let her hair back down as she rushed into the bedroom, already kicking herself for not listening to her gut. After all, shehadheard someone rooting around out here, and it wasn’t the hotel maids.
She didn’t know who she expected to see out there. Nina or one of her men, confirming that there was still danger lurking out in the hallways? Isabella, having penetrated the line of guards that separated her from the granddaughter she wished to traffic across the world “for her own good?”
“There she is!” Henry finished taking off his jacket and bent down to pick up Abigail, who leaped into his arms with a squeal in her throat. As her father twirled her in the middle of the bedroom, all four of her limbs clinging to him as if he were a tree, Monica simultaneously let out a cry of relief and surprise. “There’s Daddy’s girl! How are you, Abby?”
