“Yes. Tonight.”
Then, in a much lower voice, he said:
“I knew this day would come.”
After hearing those words, I couldn’t calm down for the rest of the night. Around eleven o’clock, the doorbell rang.
It was Grandpa. Mom opened the door but didn’t invite him in.
“Dad, why are you here?”
“I’ve come to get Lily.”
Mom’s face changed.
“No.”
Grandpa looked at her for a few seconds.
“Sarah, you can’t protect her from everything forever.”
“She’s a child.”
“That’s precisely why I want her there tonight.”
I was standing by the stairs, listening to every word. Then Mom suddenly started to cry.
“But what if tomorrow…?”
Grandpa interrupted her.
“Don’t talk about tomorrow.”
A shiver ran through my whole body.
What was going to happen tomorrow?
About half an hour later, Mom suddenly came up to my room.
“Get dressed.”
“Where are we going?”
She remained silent for a moment.
“To Grandpa’s house.”
When we arrived, I was prepared for almost anything.
But Grandpa didn’t take us to his bedroom.
Instead, he led us to the small enclosed porch at the back of the house.
There were two mattresses laid out on the floor.
One was large.
The other was small.
Next to the window stood an old telescope.
I looked at it in confusion.
“What is this?”
Grandpa smiled.
“This is what I meant when I asked if you could sleep next to me.”
Mom turned away, as if she didn’t want me to see the tears in her eyes. “But why did it have to be a secret?” I asked.
Grandfather sat down.
“Because your mother wouldn’t have allowed it.”
