The next day, I went to see a family lawyer and told her everything.
She made it clear that, as the children’s legal guardian, I had every right to protect them and control any contact if Calla tried to re-enter their lives. By the following afternoon, a formal notice had been filed: if Calla wanted contact, she would have to do so through the lawyer’s office, not through Mara.
A few days later, I met with Calla in a church parking lot, away from the house. She got out of her car looking older and worn, but none of that softened what she had done. She tried to explain herself, saying that she thought the children would move on and that I could give them the home she couldn’t. I told her plainly that I couldn’t turn abandonment into sacrifice. Not only
