Tuesday, September 23, 2008

The Birthday Party Episode

Luckily, Riley didn't seem to notice his lack of calling on her actual birthday, and I let the day go without saying anything to them. But I knew I had to tell them. I knew I had to tell Sylvia before the party.

I met with my therapist, and we talked about how much to tell them. I did not want to lie for him, but how much truth could they handle? Not to mention, the actual charges were still unclear to me.

We decided that I would tell them that X was in jail, that he'd broken the law, and now he had to face his consequence for that.

Sylvia cried and yelled and professed his innocence. I said that most of the time, people don't get arrested unless they did something wrong. She continued to cry and yell and profess his innocence.

Riley stayed quiet and didn't cry. She asked a few questions, but mainly just repeated what I'd said. She looked more upset that her sister was so upset than anything. She hugged me.

Sylvia finally calmed down and went to bed. It was a night that we were all glad to have over.

The next day, I went shopping for the goody bags. Amazing how life keeps going forward sometimes.

At their birthday party, as much fun as they were having, every time the door opened, Sylvia turned and looked for her dad.

It was so hard to be the hostess that day. Thankfully, the party was at Under the Sea, where everything is pretty much run for you. I don't think I could've handled thinking that day. Watching Sylvia broke my heart.

On the way home, I asked them if they had a good time. Yes, they said, "but Daddy didn't come," Sylvia added. All I could say was, "I know, honey. I know."

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

The poor thing. It's all fine and dandy what you do with your life until the kids get hurt. That kind of stuff pisses me off. My cousin has an ex like that.

Anonymous said...

This one makes me want to cry, because once again, selfishly, I can see my daughter's future.

:(

Kori said...

I haven't been saying much during this series because it hits too close to home; just know I love you.

Anonymous said...

How sad. I hate to see their hopes dashed again and again.

FreedomFirst said...

I just want you to know that I AM following this, although I don't always feel like I have a relevant comment. I really hope I never have to make those kinds of decisions. You should be very proud of yourself.

Shiona said...

Oh how sad! I too can see days like this in J's future. I really want to prepare him, but I guess it's too soon. I just have this gut feeling though...