Dr. Grind could not help but think of his own parents, long dead, as the world around him started to fall apart. He no longer debated whether or not they loved him; he had long ago determined that they had loved him, in their own way, no more or less than other parents he had encountered. What he now wondered, thinking back to those experiments, carried out over such a long period of time that they were not really experiments to him but the events of his life, was what exactly his mother and father were preparing him for. What darkness could they have imagined that would require such steadfast resilience in the face of it? And yet, his wife and child, his world entire, had died, and he had somehow kept going. Were his parents to thank for this? Perhaps. But now, as his new family, the Infinite Family, threatened to splinter into pieces that could not be put back together, he did not think that his parents, as strange as they were, could have ever imagined the scenario in which he found himself. And perhaps, he finally decided, that was the point. Parents do everything they can for their children, unable to conceive of the child’s future, hoping only that they’ve done enough to protect them. Right now, looking at a chart that outlined each member of the Infinite Family, Dr. Grind only knew that he had not done enough, and his family was now leaving him behind.
Not long after Ellen had moved into the mental health facility, Jeremy and Callie had taken Eli and moved permanently to their farm, having already constructed the yurt and some basic conveniences to sustain themselves while they worked the land. Dr. Grind had tried everything he could think of to keep them, had looked over the legal contracts that they had signed and found, though he already knew it, that there was very little that would keep the families in the complex if they did not want to stay. It had always been a fragile situation, but the project had given the families so much that they never questioned the fact that they could leave. They hadn’t wanted to. But now, with one family already gone, Dr. Grind knew there would be a greater awareness among the members of the family, the realization that they, too, could become a singular family.
Kalina had wanted to call child services on the Gipsons, but Dr. Grind knew that there was no real legal way to bring Eli back to the complex and there was nothing to be gained by making problems for Jeremy and Callie. They needed to keep the lines of communication open. The complex would still purchase fruits and vegetables from the family, and Dr. Grind had even allowed that Eli could commute to and from the complex for his schooling, but Callie had told him that she would now be homeschooling Eli and that they also wanted him to spend more time working on the farm.
On the night Callie took Eli from the complex, Jeremy having never shown his face since the night Ellen tried to kill herself, there had been no mention to the other children that Eli would be leaving. After dinner, when the families returned to their own houses, Callie and Eli had simply hung back with Dr. Grind and the fellows. Eli hugged Dr. Grind, who told Eli that he could visit any time that he wanted, though Eli seemed to disbelieve this offer, merely frowned and turned back to Callie. Jill was crying and Kalina was holding on to her as Callie and Eli walked to the driveway, where a truck was idling by the curb, waiting for them. Jeffrey shook his head and spoke of how this development would affect their studies, how it would create instability in the outcomes, but Dr. Grind barely listened. He focused instead on the taillights of the truck as it disappeared down the long driveway, the trees swallowing it up. Now, not by magic or careful design but rather the imperfect nature of all human interaction, the family was less by three people.
In the morning, when the children saw that Eli was no longer there, the fellows had anticipated another outburst, the children locking themselves in a room or refusing to eat food, but they seemed to accept the diminishment without emotion. Their world, Dr. Grind understood, had been damaged, and the children seemed to understand, earlier than he had ever hoped, that more woe would probably follow.
“We’re leaving,” Harris Tilton informed Dr. Grind. A month had passed since Ellen’s hospitalization and she was now due to be released and returned to the complex.
“Of course,” Dr. Grind answered, showing not the slightest bit of surprise, “you have to know that I think this is a bad idea.”
Harris nodded. “I appreciate everything that you’ve done for us. I know that Ellen’s situation is not your fault in any way, and you’ve made our lives so much better than they would have been without you, but this place is toxic for Ellen, even with Jeremy gone. She doesn’t want to come back; she doesn’t want to be reminded of what happened and she doesn’t want to see the other members of the family. She wants to start over. She needs a fresh start with her real family.”
“What about Marnie?” Dr. Grind asked. “It will be a huge change for her, to lose her brothers and sisters, to lose access to the other parents.”
“I’ve been talking to her. She understands what’s going on. She misses her mother. She’s willing to trade the complex in order to have Ellen back.”
“Why should she have to choose, Harris?” Dr. Grind asked, a hint of desperation now entering his voice.
“Because,” Harris said, starting to cry, “everyone has to choose at some point. You can’t have everything, Dr. Grind, right? Why does it matter if we leave tomorrow as opposed to a few years from now? This wasn’t intended to last forever.”
“Well, the intention was that the members of this family would stay in contact after the project ended, to form a network of support even beyond this place.”
“No reason that still can’t happen. I care about this place, Dr. Grind. I hope you know that. I love those kids and I really care for the people I’ve met while we’ve lived here. But, and I hate to say this because I know it might upset you, they are not my real family. Ellen and Marnie are my real family, and they have gone through some really unpleasant shit and my responsibility is to fix that.”
“And you don’t want our help?” Dr. Grind offered.