My husband won "Parent of the Year" for raising our 6 kids while I sat alone in the corner—then our youngest daughter took the mic and said, "There's one little detail."

Daniel told me about the call that evening.

He came into the kitchen while I was making dinner, sat down at the table, and said, "Dad called me."

I turned around.

"What did he say?"

"He said he wanted to talk.

Just the two of us." Daniel looked at the table.

"He said he understood why I did what I did at the ceremony.

He said he wasn't angry."

"Was he?"

"He was furious," Daniel said.

"You can always tell because his voice gets very even."

I sat down across from him.

"He said he wanted me to understand that things are more complicated than I know.

That you and he had problems that were between adults, and that I'd only heard one side." Daniel paused.

"Then he said that he'd been thinking about my future.

He said he has contacts at three universities.

He said if I was willing to give a statement to his attorney — clarifying that the letter was your idea, that you asked us to write it — he could make sure I had my pick of placements."

The kitchen was very quiet.

"He tried to bribe you," I said.

"Yes." Daniel looked up at me.

"I told him I wrote every word of that letter myself.

I told him I had nothing to clarify." He paused.

"Then he said that loyalty is a two-way street.

That I should think carefully about which parent was actually going to be able to provide for my future."

"What did you say?"

Daniel was quiet for a moment.

"I said, 'Dad, I've been recording this call.'"

I stared at him.

"I wasn't," he said.

"But he didn't know that.

And he hung up."

I pressed my hand over my mouth.

A sound came out that was somewhere between a laugh and something else entirely.

"Daniel—"

"I know," he said.

"I know I shouldn't have.

But, Mom." He looked at me, and for a moment he looked exactly like the small boy who used to bring me drawings of our house, always with the same six stick figures standing in a row.

"He tried to buy me.

With university placements.

Like I was one of his business contacts." His voice was steady but his eyes were bright.

"I just wanted him to stop talking."

I reached across the table and took his hand.

We sat like that for a while.

Then he said, "Grace should know."

"Yes," I said.

"She should."

I called Grace the next morning.

She listened without interrupting.

When I finished, she said, "He approached a minor child involved in active family court proceedings and offered material benefit in exchange for a statement favorable to his case."

"Yes."

"Did Daniel record it?"

"No.

He bluffed."

A pause.

"That's unfortunate.

But Daniel's account, submitted in writing, is still significant.

This goes to the judge." Another pause.

"Carol, I told you he would try something.

This is worse than I expected.

He's not thinking clearly anymore."

"He's losing," I said.