Chapter 4 - THE HOUSE RULE MEGAN FINALLY CHANGED
Megan changed the locks the next morning.
Diane did not live with them.
She did, however, have a key.
“For emergencies,” Eric had always said.
The definition of emergency had stretched over the years.
Diane letting herself in with groceries.
Diane reorganizing Noah’s dresser.
Diane replacing snacks she considered unhealthy.
Diane once taking Noah from his crib after Megan had put him down for a nap because “he wasn't really tired.”
Every incident had ended the same way.
Eric explaining that his mother meant well.
Megan deciding the fight was not worth it.
The locksmith finished at eleven.
Eric watched him leave.
“She's going to lose it.”
Megan looked at him.
“That isn't a reason not to do it.”
“I know.”
It was the first time he said those words without adding but.
They also canceled Diane’s regular Tuesday babysitting.
Megan emailed the daycare they used part-time and removed Diane from the authorized pickup list.
Then she called Noah’s pediatrician.
The office reviewed his chart.
There was no recommended sleep medication.
No sedating medication prescribed to him.
No medical reason for Diane to have been adding anything to his drinks.
Megan requested copies of Noah’s records.
She expected reassurance.
Instead she found a note from six months earlier:
Mother reports intermittent excessive sleepiness after visits with paternal grandmother. Family advised to monitor and return if recurrent.
Megan stared at the sentence.
She had reported it.
She had not imagined it.
She had allowed Eric and Diane to convince her the concern was trivial.
When Eric returned from work, she placed the record on the table.
“You remember this?”
He read it.
His shoulders dropped.
“Yes.”
“You told me the doctor wasn't worried.”
“The doctor wasn't urgently worried.”
“That isn't what you said.”
Eric sat down.
“No.”
Megan waited.
He rubbed both hands over his face.
“I thought you and Mom were turning everything into a competition.”
Megan nearly laughed.
“Your mother was secretly putting something into our son's drinks and you thought my problem was competitiveness?”
“I didn't know that.”
“You knew I was worried.”
“Yes.”
“You chose the explanation that required nothing from you.”
Eric flinched.
The accusation landed because it was accurate.
That night Diane arrived at the house.
Her old key no longer worked.
Megan watched through the front window as Diane tried it twice.
Then Diane rang the bell.
Again.
Again.
Eric walked toward the door.
Megan stopped him.
“No.”
He looked at her.
“She knows we're home.”
“Yes.”
“She'll keep ringing.”
“Then she can keep ringing.”
May you like
Diane hit the bell again.
For the first time, the locked door stayed locked.
