We took her to the doctor, who couldn’t find any physical issues. Then we tried therapy, but even the therapist couldn’t determine why she was pulling away.
Weeks turned into months, and Emily remained silent. Our home was filled with a heavy sense of unspoken sorrow.
Then one morning, as I was buckling Emily into her car seat for school, she finally spoke.
“Will you leave me there forever?” she whispered.
Those words hit me like a punch in the gut. I turned to her, my eyes wide with shock. “What do you mean, sweetie? I would never leave you.”
She looked down at her hands, her voice barely audible. “Brian said… he said you and Daddy might not want me anymore.”
I felt a wave of nausea wash over me. “When did Brian say that?”
Emily’s eyes filled with tears. “When you went to the store. He said… he said bad things about you and Daddy. He said you were going to give me away.”
I had to sit down on the curb next to the car. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Brian, the man we trusted with our daughter, had said such cruel things to her.
I called Tom immediately. “We need to talk to Brian. Now.”
Tom was as shocked as I was. We arranged to meet Brian at a coffee shop later that day. When he arrived, he seemed nervous.
I didn’t waste any time. “What did you say to Emily?”
Brian looked down at his hands. “I… I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t lie to us,” Tom said, his voice cold. “Emily hasn’t spoken for months. She just told us what you said to her.”
Brian’s face paled. “I… I was having a really bad day. I was going through a lot of stuff. I didn’t mean for it to come out like that. I was just… venting.”
“Venting?” I shouted. “You told a 7 – year – old that her parents were going to give her away! Do you have any idea what that could do to a child?”
Brian looked ashamed. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t think. I just… I’m really sorry.”
It was too little, too late. The damage had been done. Emily was still struggling to trust people, and her speech was still affected. We continued to work with her in therapy, but the scars from that one thoughtless moment would take a long time to heal.
We cut ties with Brian. He was no longer welcome in our home. Our daughter’s well – being was more important than any friendship. And as we watched Emily slowly start to open up again, we knew that we would do whatever it took to protect her from any more harm.
