Chapter 4 - The Room Already Claimed
Ethan brought the boxes to Naomi’s garage without opening them.
Margaret had labeled each one in black marker.
WINTER CLOTHES.
KITCHEN.
BATHROOM.
NOAH.
Clara stopped at the final box.
“What could she possibly own that belongs in a box marked with my son’s name?”
Ethan cut the tape.
Inside were bottles, pacifiers, swaddles, a baby monitor, and a handwritten schedule. Margaret had divided Noah’s days into feeding, naps, outdoor walks, and “quiet time away from mother.”
Clara read the phrase twice.
Naomi swore under her breath.
Ethan looked sick.
“She told me she was bringing a few supplies.”
“You let her prepare a nursery.”
“No. I didn’t know about this.”
Clara opened another box.
Margaret’s mail-forwarding confirmation showed their address as her permanent residence for six months.
There were grocery lists organized around Ethan’s favorite meals and a binder containing printouts on infant sleep training. Clara found a note in the margin of one page.
Clara returns to work at six weeks. E. agrees.
Clara handed the page to him.
“What did you agree to?”
Ethan read it.
“I never agreed to six weeks.”
“Then why did she write your initial?”
“I don’t know.”
Naomi stood beside Clara.
“You should go.”
Ethan looked at his sister-in-law.
“I’m trying to fix this.”
“You can start by answering your wife.”
Clara had never liked being defended in a way that made her look helpless. She raised a hand toward Naomi.
“I need a minute with him.”
When they were alone, Ethan admitted that Margaret had asked whether she could stay until her housing situation improved. He said he had told her they would discuss it after the birth.
“You discussed it with her,” Clara said. “You just didn’t discuss it with me.”
“I didn’t say yes.”
“You gave her a key, an address, and a room.”
“I was trying not to leave her homeless.”
“And I was two days postpartum. Which one of us did you decide could absorb the damage?”
Ethan flinched.
Clara searched the final box and found a bank receipt.
May you like
Six weeks before Noah’s birth, Margaret had transferred twelve thousand dollars into Ethan and Clara’s joint checking account.
The money was no longer there.
