"Are you two playing pass the parcel or sothing?" Adir asked dryly, watching lanie move about distractedly in the kitchen, lost in thought, her movents all automatic.
Adam, who had also been staring at her, blinked and turned to Adir, pulled from his own daze and let out a tired sigh. "What do you an?"
Adir rolled his eyes, the way only a child who thought adults were being deliberately slow could. "Yesterday, you were wandering around like you were lost in a fog. Now she’s the one doing it."
Adam gave a soft, humourless chuckle, surprised once again by the boy’s perception. He ran a hand over his face and sighed again, "Yeah... probably. Looks like we are. But don’t worry-she’ll snap out of it soon. Just needs a little ti. Okay?"
Adir gave a small shrug and nodded. "Hmm. I’m not worried. Dad always said sotis adults get confused and have to think deep. He used to do that a lot too."
Adam paused at that, then nodded slowly, giving Adir a thoughtful look. "He was right," he murmured, more to himself than to the boy. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed lanie had gone still, frozen in the middle of rinsing a mug. He could already guess what was going through her mind.
So, he turned to Adir and nudged him lightly. "Co on then, kiddo. Go get changed. We’ll leave in twenty minutes."
Adir gave one last glance towards the kitchen, then trotted off, calling over his shoulder, "Don’t forget the snacks this ti!"
Adam gave a small nod in response and watched him disappear around the corner. When he turned back, lanie was no longer at the sink. She stood a few feet away, staring at Adir’s retreating back.
Adam shook his head and warned her," This is different, lon. Don’t compare..."
lanie walked over slowly, "How is it different and how can I not compare? I think... I must have been like Adir when I was-" She paused, struggling for the right word to use instead of ’kidnapped’. Her brow furrowed, her mouth opening and closing once before she finally settled on, "-taken away by grandma."
She folded her arms tightly across her chest as if hugging herself and continued in a soft tone, "But Adir rembers Patrick. He rembers his father. And he will probably always rember. So why don’t I rember mine? Or my mother?"
Adam stepped forward and gently pulled her into his arms. She didn’t resist. He held her close, pressed a soft kiss to her temple before replying. "What do we always teach? About forgetting things related to Patrick not to feel guilty about it, right? That mories co when they’re ready, and sotis they don’t co at all. And that’s okay."
"As for why you don’t rember them," he said, pulling back just enough to look at her face, "there could be a number of reasons. Like you said, your grandmother always got sad whenever you asked about them. So maybe-even as a child-you instinctively stopped asking. Maybe you ca to believe they were gone. And that belief... it stayed. Or it is possible that your grandmother or soone else must have ntioned in passing that those people were dead.
lanie was nodding slowly, eyes downcast, when he continued, voice even gentler.
"I also believe your grandmother beca your primary caregiver before the incidence. She was the one you saw every day, the one who made your als, tucked you into bed, took you to school. Your parents, they were always away, travelling for work or sothing,might not have figured into your daily world. That kind of distance can blur mories. Especially in young children. So, if you did not et them as part of your routine, you might have forgotten ablout them quite easily."
lanie stopped mid-nod. She turned her face up to him, frowning. "How do you know that? How do you know they were always travelling?"
Adam hesitated, for a second, his expression gave away nothing, but his eyes flickered-just enough.
lanie stepped back a little and stared at him with narrowed eyes,"Adam?"
He exhaled slowly. "I didn’t an to keep anything from you. But I didn’t just guess. Soone told . Soone who knows your parents. From before."
lanie stilled, her expression unreadable now. "You talked to soone who knows them?"
Adam nodded once. "Yes."
Her voice dropped and she asked urgently. "Did you et them? You investigated everything? How long have you known?"
His eyes widened slightly, and he imdiately shook his head. "No. No, of course not, lanie. I just looked into the police report to make sure that there was no misunderstanding. You know I would never keep things hidden from you, baby."
lanie didn’t respond, just kept watching him, knowing he was indeed hiding sothing. He let out a breath at her expression and explained," The only reason I even looked into any of this was because of that day you had the panic attack and I brought you to the hospital. You were half-conscious, drifting in and out, but you kept repeating one thing."
She blinked.
"You kept muttering that you loved your father the most," he said gently. "Over and over."
lanie’s breath caught in her throat. How could she have murmured sothing like that? She didn’t even know her father-had no mory of him, no face to attach to the na. Even now, she could not rember what he looked like. And yet, in that fragile, half-conscious state, her mind had reached for him, as if he had always been there? How was that possible?
Before she could fully understand the implications, Adam caught her hand and spoke in a low tone, "And I think I know what triggered your panic attack," he said quietly. "That day in the elevator... it wasn’t just about the stress or the confusion."
She frowned," What do you an?"
Adam shook his head and said quietly," You had a panic attack imdiately after you saw your biological father."
lanie felt her world tilt at that revelation.
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