Chapter 2 - THE ROOM THAT WAS ALREADY WAITING
Claire did not shout.
That frightened Lauren more than shouting would have.
“To your apartment?”
Lauren looked toward their mother.
Evelyn answered for her.
“It was a contingency.”
Claire gave a short, disbelieving laugh.
“For what?”
“For after the delivery.”
“After my delivery.”
“Yes.”
“My child.”
“No one is disputing biology, Claire.”
“Stop.”
Lauren’s voice startled all three of them.
She released Evelyn’s wrist.
“Just stop talking like that.”
Evelyn’s expression hardened. “You agreed this was necessary.”
“I agreed to have a place ready.”
“For the baby.”
“In case Claire needed help.”
Claire turned toward Lauren.
“What exactly did you get ready?”
Lauren looked miserable.
“A bassinet.”
Claire said nothing.
“Some bottles. A changing pad.”
“How long?”
“Claire—”
“How long were you planning to keep my child?”
“I wasn't planning to keep anybody.”
“Then why was my rabbit in your bag?”
Lauren looked toward the floor.
Claire suddenly understood another detail.
She had locked the nursery two weeks earlier because Evelyn kept moving things.
A crib blanket would disappear and reappear folded differently.
A drawer she remembered closing would be left open.
Once, Claire had found Evelyn standing inside the nursery with her hand resting on the crib rail.
After that, Claire had bought a simple keyed lock.
Only Claire and Daniel had keys.
“Who let you into my nursery?”
Lauren’s silence lasted too long.
Claire felt a dull pressure behind her ribs.
“Daniel?”
Lauren whispered, “He gave Mom a key.”
The mansion seemed to shrink around Claire.
Daniel had told her the spare key was in his desk at work.
She had asked because hers had gone missing for an afternoon.
He'd laughed and said pregnancy brain was making her paranoid.
Evelyn folded her arms.
“This is exactly why Daniel asked us to prepare.”
Claire turned.
“What did Daniel ask you to prepare?”
Evelyn’s voice became careful.
“A stable environment.”
“For whom?”
“The child.”
Claire’s hand tightened around the stuffed rabbit.
Lauren rubbed both palms over her face.
“Mom told me you might leave after the baby came.”
Claire stared at her.
“I told Daniel I might leave him.”
Lauren lowered her hands.
“What?”
“I said I couldn't keep living in this house if he kept letting his mother run our marriage.”
Evelyn looked offended rather than ashamed.
Claire continued.
“I said I'd stay with my sister in Milwaukee for a few weeks if I had to. I never said I was disappearing with my baby.”
Lauren looked at Evelyn.
“You said she threatened to take off.”
“She did.”
“No. That's not the same thing.”
“It becomes the same thing when a newborn is involved.”
Claire felt suddenly dizzy.
She reached for the edge of the marble table.
Lauren noticed.
“Claire?”
“I’m fine.”
“You haven't eaten.”
Evelyn's mouth tightened.
“That was her choice.”
Lauren spun toward her.
“You threw her food away.”
“She could have signed.”
Something changed in Lauren’s face.
Not dramatically.
Just enough.
A line had been crossed where she could finally see it.
She pushed the burgundy bag away from the door.
Then she picked up Claire’s dinner plate from the trash.
The sight of food smeared against the china seemed to make her angrier.
“You told me we were protecting the baby because Claire was unstable.”
Evelyn said nothing.
Lauren looked at Claire.
“What else has she done?”
Claire opened her mouth.
The room tilted.
The rabbit slipped from her hand.
Lauren caught Claire before she hit the floor.
As she guided her into a dining chair, Claire heard Evelyn saying that everyone needed to calm down.
Lauren ignored her.
She reached for Claire’s phone.
“I’m calling Daniel.”
Claire caught her wrist.
“No.”
Lauren stopped.
Claire’s breathing came shallow now.
“Call my OB.”
And before Lauren could dial, Claire added:
May you like
“Then call my sister.”
Because for the first time since moving into the Morgan house, Claire understood that going home and leaving this house were no longer the same thing.
