Chapter 13 - THE FIRST TIME BEATRICE MET THEM
Beatrice met the children almost a year after Alex first saw them on television.
Not because she demanded it.
Because Elena decided she was ready to consider it.
The meeting happened in a park.
Public.
Short.
Alex and Elena both present.
Beatrice arrived carrying nothing.
No expensive toys.
No Vance-family heirlooms.
Just herself.
Mateo studied her.
“You're Grandma Beatrice?”
“Yes.”
“You hid us.”
Alex closed his eyes briefly.
Children were efficient.
Beatrice nodded.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
She crouched.
“Because I was selfish and afraid.”
Lucas frowned.
“Afraid of babies?”
“Afraid of losing control.”
Sofia whispered to Grace:
“She talks like Dad.”
Elena almost laughed.
Beatrice continued.
“I did something very wrong to your mom and dad.”
Mateo asked:
“Are you gonna do it again?”
Beatrice’s eyes filled.
“I am trying very hard not to.”
Mateo considered that.
“Mom says trying isn't the same as doing.”
Beatrice looked at Elena.
“Your mother is right.”
The visit lasted forty-five minutes.
No hugs were required.
Grace eventually showed Beatrice a ladybug.
Lucas asked whether she had a swimming pool.
Sofia demanded to know if she could cook pancakes.
Mateo remained cautious.
That was okay.
Afterward, Beatrice asked Alex:
“How did I do?”
He looked at her.
“This isn't an audition.”
She nodded.
Old Beatrice would have argued.
New Beatrice didn't.
Alex did not know whether their relationship would ever fully recover.
He stopped needing certainty.
Meanwhile, he and Elena dated.
Slowly.
Painfully.
Sometimes beautifully.
He rented an apartment ten minutes away.
The children had beds there but lived primarily with Elena.
He legally established paternity.
He contributed financially without turning money into leverage.
He attended school conferences.
He learned braids badly.
He burned pancakes worse.
Then came Little Nests’ annual gala.
Elena stood onstage receiving an award.
She thanked Marisol.
Her staff.
The nurses who helped during the NICU years.
Then she paused.
“And someone who arrived very late…”
Alex looked up.
“…but has spent the last year proving that late does not have to mean never.”
The room applauded.
Alex did not.
He couldn't.
He was trying not to cry.
Later, backstage, Elena handed him an envelope.
Alex stared at it suspiciously.
“Your family has ruined envelopes for me.”
She smiled.
“Open it.”
Inside was a key.
To her house.
Alex looked up.
“What does this mean?”
“It means you don't need to ring the bell every Tuesday.”
His chest tightened.
Then she added:
“Do not confuse a key with permission to move your suits into my closet.”
He laughed.
But beneath the key was one more item.
A card.
May you like
On it, in Mateo’s handwriting:
NOW YOU’RE INSIDE THE HOUSE.
