Chapter 7 - THE PRICE OF BEING SPECIAL
Rachel met Linda with Grace Bennett present.
“Why does Sophie come first?”
Linda answered:
“She has been through more.”
“She was a baby.”
“That isn’t the point.”
“What is?”
Linda finally said:
“When Vanessa almost died, Sophie gave her a reason to wake up.”
Rachel replied:
“That does not make Sophie responsible for Vanessa’s survival.”
Linda’s jaw tightened.
“You weren’t there.”
“I would have been if you told me.”
“You were dealing with infertility. You were fragile.”
Rachel stared.
Linda had hidden Vanessa’s crisis to protect her.
Then spent years telling Vanessa that Rachel’s fertility pain made her resent Sophie.
“You divided us.”
“I kept the family functioning.”
“No. You assigned roles.”
Linda went silent.
“Vanessa was the broken daughter.”
Linda flinched.
“Sophie was the savior.”
Another flinch.
“I was jealous.”
Nothing.
“And Mia?”
Linda looked away.
“The complication.”
Rachel’s face went cold.
Linda said she believed Mia had two stable parents and therefore could tolerate more disappointment.
Sophie, in Linda’s mind, needed special treatment to protect Vanessa.
Rachel whispered:
“You took safety from one child to give another child symbolism.”
Then Grace asked:
“Did you tell Vanessa Rachel thought Sophie was less real because she was adopted?”
Linda hesitated.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To keep Vanessa from falling apart.”
May you like
Rachel stared at her mother.
Linda had used a lie about one daughter to regulate another.
