Chapter 8 - His Name on the Page
"Move," I told Daniel.
He stepped aside. I walked past him into the kitchen because I wasn't going to have another life-changing conversation trapped between the nursery and his mother's boxes.
"What did she ask you to sign?"
"A statement," he said. "About how stressed you've been."
I put both hands on the counter. "A statement for whom?"
"She said the clinic might want context."
"What did you write?"
Daniel swallowed. "That you've been emotional. That we disagree about support."
I laughed once, without humor. "Did you tell them she pulled a chair out from under me?"
"This was before today."
"Then did you tell them she's been pressuring me for months?"
"I didn't think it mattered."
I looked at this man I'd married, the man who painted our kitchen yellow because I said the old color made winter feel longer. I had trusted him with everything. He'd handed my fears to somebody who used them against me.
"Show me."
He brought his laptop downstairs. He found the document in a shared folder titled Family Planning. His statement was framed as concern for my emotional stability. It wasn't a medical assessment. It was his opinion, dressed up in formal language.
At the bottom were two signature lines. One bore Daniel's name. The other bore mine.
"That's not my signature," I said.
He leaned closer. "I didn't know that was on there."
"You handed it over without reading it?"
"Mom said she'd finish the details."
My phone buzzed again. Nora: I'm outside.
When I opened the door, she took one look at my face and set down her overnight bag.
"Where are your shoes?" she asked.
"Why?"
"Because you're coming with me."
Daniel stood behind us. "You're taking her away without even hearing my side?"
Nora held his gaze. "She's thirty-four weeks pregnant and your mother shoved her to the floor. You want a debate, find a podcast."
I went upstairs and packed a small bag. At the bottom of my dresser, I found Linda's hospital checklist again. This copy had an added line, written in blue pen.
May you like
If Emily refuses cooperation, contact Daniel first.
And someone had checked the box beside it.
