Chapter 2 - The Promise Made Without Her
Clara woke beneath fluorescent lights at Northwestern Medicine Central DuPage Hospital.
Ethan sat beside the bed with Noah asleep against his chest. He had changed the baby’s diaper badly; one side hung lower than the other. Normally, Clara would have smiled.
Instead, she remembered Margaret’s hand in her robe.
“How long?”
“About four hours.”
“What happened?”
“Your blood count dropped. The doctor thinks the blood loss from delivery, no sleep, and standing in the kitchen pushed you too far.”
Clara turned toward the window.
“Where is she?”
“My sister picked her up.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
Ethan shifted Noah carefully.
“Mom’s not at the house.”
“Were those her suitcases?”
“Yes.”
“How long was she planning to stay?”
Ethan rubbed the back of his neck.
“A few days.”
Clara looked at him.
“Don’t start lying while I’m still wearing a hospital bracelet.”
He lowered his hand.
“Her lease ended.”
Margaret had lived in a two-bedroom apartment in Wheaton for almost six years. She had never mentioned moving.
“When did you find out?”
“Last month.”
“And you didn’t tell me?”
“You were thirty-eight weeks pregnant. I didn’t want to add stress.”
“So you gave her our address?”
“She needed somewhere to receive mail.”
“And a key?”
Ethan did not answer.
Clara looked down at Noah’s tiny fingers curled against Ethan’s shirt.
They had agreed months earlier that Margaret would not stay after the birth. She ignored closed doors, criticized Clara’s housekeeping, and treated every boundary as evidence that Clara was separating Ethan from his family.
Ethan had called the decision temporary.
Clara had called it necessary.
A nurse entered to check Clara’s blood pressure and asked how much help she had at home.
“My mother’s staying with us,” Ethan said automatically.
Clara turned toward him.
“No, she isn’t.”
The nurse paused, then quietly changed the note on her tablet.
After she left, Clara asked, “What exactly did you promise her?”
Ethan looked at Noah instead of answering.
Clara noticed a folded paper protruding from the diaper bag. It was a cancellation confirmation from the postpartum doula they had hired.
May you like
The cancellation had been submitted twelve days earlier.
Using Ethan’s email address.
