Mending her shattered soul

5- Made-up memories

Ethan

Trevor stiffens, surprised by Stella’s comment. I know that my brother regrets not being in her life and missing out on all the holidays, birthdays, and milestones.

We, the Harrisons, are a bit taken aback by Stella's comments and we all share a collective look of astonishment. She seems oblivious to our confusion and is happily chatting in her father’s lap.

“I've kept all the cards but not all the gifts," Stella informs him, "Sawy & mom said that I must donate my gifts to other kids who need them and that gifts should not be left in a box but in a happy child’s hands. But they let me keep a few small gifts as souvenirs. Would you want to see them?”

Trevor looks at Chloe. He clearly does not know how to respond.

“Stella baby, why don’t you take your dad to your room? You can show him your room and the souvenir boxes.” Chloe suggests.

“Yay! You'll love my room, Daddy. It is green like the jungle with so many plushies. A jungle of plushies. Come on!” Stella exclaims excitedly, taking Trevor's hand and leading him up the stairs.

“what postcards and gifts is she talking about?” I inquire of Sawyer.

“Well, you have all been sending her postcards and gifts throughout the years,” she answers, her eyebrow raised defiantly at me.

“Sawyer honey, we didn’t even know that we had a granddaughter, so we couldn’t have sent her those cards and gifts” my mom says, confused by this news.

“Mrs. Harrison, we didn’t know that Trevor never told you about my pregnancy. I thought you were all adopting the same attitude towards us, shunning us from your life.” Chloe tries to explain but my mother cuts her off.

“Oh, honey, I am not blaming you. God knows I only blame my boys and their uncle. You and Stella are victims, and I will spend my lifetime apologizing for all the wrongs we have done to you.” My mom apologizes

“Mom, you don’t have to apologize to her!” I interject.

Why on earth would my mum apologize to Chloe? Stella maybe, but Chloe is not a victim. If she were not conniving, we would not have taken such drastic measures.

“Mrs. Harrison, you certainly do not owe Chloe an apology. Clearly, you have done nothing wrong. Your sons are adults, and they have made heartless decisions on their own. The only apologies we expect are from them.” Sawyer exclaims in a defiant tone. She crosses her arms on her chest and raises her eyebrow, challenging me to reply.

Dad must have sensed that the winds are shifting towards dangerous territories because he asks Chloe:

“Chloe darling, what is this story about postcards and gifts from our family?”

“Mr. Harrison…”

“Please call me John…” he interrupts.

She nods.

“John, we wanted…”

“You! You wanted”! Sawyer interjects.

Chloe rolls her eyes and takes a deep breath before continuing.

“I wanted to maintain a virtual relationship with Stella’s paternal family. She does not know what happened, and no one will ever tell her what happened. She thinks that Trevor was forced to live far away from us because of his work. I told her that you all lived in another state and could not visit her. But since you loved her, you always sent her gifts and postcards.”

Every new piece of information we receive today makes it difficult for me to still believe that Chloe and Sawyer are scheming gold-diggers.

I remember what she said during our last meeting seven years ago. She pledged that she would never badmouth Trevor for the sake of her daughter. And it seems she did the same for all of us.

“See Ethan, you cannot buy class…You threw this woman to the dogs, but she rose up to become a Queen! To think you didn't believe she was enough for your family’s social status. Look at her now, she outshines you all!” Sawyer snarls, disdainfully.

“Sawyer, please, let's not go there.” Chloe pleads, hoping to defuse the tension.

“What do you mean not enough for our family? What social status?” Mom queries, her confusion palpable.

Before anyone can answer, Stella returns, trotting towards us with a small box in her hand. Her dad and Happy are following her, with Trevor carrying a large box.

“I thought it would be nice to go through the cards together.” Trevor explains.

He sits on the floor beside Stella, and they both place their boxes on the ground.

“Chloe, would you like to join us?” he asks her with a pleading voice.

Dammit, my brother is gone! I must talk to him and keep him in line. He should not complicate things by starting anything with Chloe.

They open the boxes, and we see so many cards in different shapes, colors, and sizes.

“Look, Daddy! This is the fake egg you gave me this year.” Stella exclaims as she grabs the egg and shows it to her grandparents.

“Yes, this was Trevor’s April Fools' Day present,” Chloe adds, looking at my parents. Although the explanation is for all of us, since we had nothing to do with those gifts.

“And it was the first card I read on my own since I can r******w! You told me I should use the egg to prank Mommy & Sawy! And it worked. They were both screaming when they saw the egg falling on the floor in the kitchen.” Stella explains, her adorable voice filled with excitement.

“Oh yes, we were so terrified. We thought it was a real egg. My heart skipped a beat.” Chloe winks.

I am amazed by the efforts she has put into creating such a wonderful, although fake, connection between Stella and us. We go through hundreds of cards, keychains, magnets, and souvenirs from different cities. Celebrating every possible occasion.

“Uncle Ethan, I liked your clown joke in this card.” Stella says, waving the card in front of me.

A joke? I am confused and I take the card from her hand. Trevor hands me a few other cards that are presumably from me. Each card contains a joke that I share with my niece.

I glance at Chloe, hoping for some clarification, but Sawyer walks up to me and whispers:

“It was my idea to portray you as funny Uncle Ethan. The irony was just priceless!” she explains, smirking.

Before I have a chance to respond, Happy dashes towards the French doors, whining to go outside.

Trevor stands up and asks Stella, “Do you want to take Happy for a walk with me? He needs to go out and play in the backyard.”

“Oh yes Daddy, yes!” she jumps happily, and the puppy starts jumping up and down next to her.

As they leave, we continue to browse the cards.

“Chloe was committed to the stunt. She even changed her handwriting.” Mom says as she compares the various cards.

“Oh no, Sawyer and I wrote the cards, so there are two different handwritings.” Chloe clarifies.

“Thank you to both of you. We just wished those were genuinely sent by us” Mom says, her voice faltering.

Chloe takes her hand, “From now on, you will be sending those cards yourselves.”

Mom nods and wipes her tears as Chloe places a large brown envelope on her lap.

“And inside this envelope, you will find the cards that Stella wrote to all of you throughout the years.”

Mom and Dad look at each other, all surprised.

“You made her write cards for us.”

“And you kept them?”

“It is only natural for a granddaughter to write to her grandparents, uncle, and father. Well, at first, Sawyer and I did most of the writing. But this year, she started writing too.”

My dad stands up and cups Chloe’s head with both hands.

“My child, you are an angel. We are so fortunate to have you in our family. Thank you so much for creating this link with our granddaughter even when we did not know she existed. Thank you so much for not telling her how awful our family has been towards you and her.”

Dad hugs her tightly and I can see they are both crying.

I cannot bear to see my parents in such agony. I feel I should inform them about what Chloe and Sawyer were really after.

I do not like this narrative where Trevor, my uncle, and I are the villains! They should hear our side of the story.

I glance around, hoping to see Sawyer’s reaction, but she has vanished. I look through the doors and notice she is standing outside.