Vanessa takes a breath. It would be so easy to point out the mistakes -- even though she knows this story isn't the whole story. Leaving a child with someone who is really no better than a stranger, regardless of blood relation. The fact that Sheila Haywood had walked out of her son's life without a look back, and no effort to keep track of him or reclaim him after his father's death. Sheila's shady past. Bruce and Jason both had been blinded by rose-colored glasses in this case.
"Everything in you wants to rebel against the thought that a child is in danger around their parents. You're told from childhood that your parents will keep you safe, and if you're lucky that's held true for you. And then you have to confront the fact that it's not.
"It's not always the parents themselves, but who they allow into their lives. Who they allow around their children. But it's always the children who end up paying the price, somehow."
no subject
"Everything in you wants to rebel against the thought that a child is in danger around their parents. You're told from childhood that your parents will keep you safe, and if you're lucky that's held true for you. And then you have to confront the fact that it's not.
"It's not always the parents themselves, but who they allow into their lives. Who they allow around their children. But it's always the children who end up paying the price, somehow."