Chapter 6 - WHAT DIANE CHOSE
Ava did not want to see her mother.
Then Tommy asked whether Diane knew he had been locked away during the wedding.
Fen could not answer him.
Neither could I.
A child therapist recommended a controlled meeting with Diane, the two children, and their advocates. Ava could leave whenever she wished. Tommy could remain behind a one-way observation window if entering the room felt unsafe.
The meeting took place six weeks after the wedding.
Ava sat beside me.
Diane sat across from us with a caseworker at her side.
Tommy watched from the adjoining room with Fen and his therapist.
Diane looked smaller than Ava remembered her.
She had lost weight. The color had faded from her hair. She wore no makeup and no jewelry.
Ava did not soften.
“Did you know Tommy was locked upstairs?”
Diane’s eyes filled.
“I knew Wade put him in the room.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
Diane swallowed.
“I knew the door was locked.”
“Did you know he couldn’t get out?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you open it?”
“Wade said it would only be a few minutes.”
“You watched Frank take the key.”
“I thought Frank would let him out after everyone calmed down.”
“Everyone except Tommy.”
Diane closed her eyes.
Ava continued.
“Did you really sign papers to send me away?”
“Yes.”
“Did you think I was dangerous?”
“I thought you were angry.”
“I was angry because Wade hurt Tommy.”
“I know that now.”
“I told you then.”
Diane looked directly at her daughter.
“I was afraid.”
“Of Wade?”
“Of losing everything.”
“What did you think you were losing?”
“The house. The wedding. The life I thought I’d finally built.”
Ava’s voice dropped.
“So you decided to lose us instead?”
Diane began to cry.
The caseworker offered to stop the meeting.
Ava shook her head.
“No. I want her to answer.”
Diane pressed the tissue to her eyes.
“I kept thinking there would be a moment when Wade calmed down. I thought if I kept everyone peaceful, things would become normal.”
“You called me the problem.”
“It was easier.”
The honesty wounded more deeply than another excuse.
“Easier than what?”
“Admitting I had brought him into the house.”
Ava leaned back.
For months, she had waited for her mother to say she had not known.
Instead, Diane finally admitted something harder.
She had known enough to act.
She had chosen not to.
From the observation room came a small knock.
Tommy stood behind the glass.
His therapist opened the connecting door.
He remained near the threshold.
“Did you hear me at the wedding?” he asked.
Diane covered her mouth.
“Yes.”
“When I knocked?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you come?”
Diane could not construct an answer that would protect her.
“I was ashamed,” she whispered.
“Of me?”
“No. Of what I let happen.”
Tommy looked toward Fen.
“I want to go.”
The meeting ended.
Diane did not ask either child to hug her.
She did not request forgiveness.
As we left, she handed Detective Brooks a notebook she had found beneath Wade’s side of the bed.
It contained dates, punishments, and descriptions of both children’s behavior.
Some entries were in Wade’s handwriting.
Others were Frank’s.
Next to Ava’s name, they used phrases such as instigator, future risk, and remove before escalation.
Next to Tommy’s name, they recorded how long he cried after meals were withheld or doors were locked.
The writing was clinical.
That made it worse.
They had converted fear into measurements and called it discipline.
Wade and Frank were arrested the following morning.
Wade faced charges related to child abuse, unlawful imprisonment, conspiracy, and the planned provocation of Ava.
Frank faced charges for his direct participation, evidence concealment, and endangering both children.
Diane was not criminally charged immediately, but Family Court continued the neglect proceedings against her.
Her cooperation did not erase what she had done.
It only prevented one final act of protection for Wade.
During his first court appearance, Wade looked toward Diane in the gallery.
She did not sit with his family.
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When his attorney turned to find someone willing to post bond, Frank’s wife stared at the floor.
The adults who had once formed a wall around him were beginning to step apart.
