Chapter 9 - The Doorway
I came downstairs with a duffel bag and my prenatal records. Daniel was standing in the entryway, staring at Nora as if she were a stranger stealing furniture.
"Emily, don't do this tonight," he said.
"I'm staying somewhere I can rest."
"This is our house."
"Then you can stay in it."
He looked past me toward the nursery. "Mom spent all day getting ready for the baby."
"I spent thirty-four weeks carrying her."
That shut him up for a moment.
Nora took my bag. "Car's running."
"Will you tell her?" he asked.
"Tell who?"
"Mom. That you left."
Nora made a disbelieving noise. "Daniel, listen to yourself."
We reached the porch when another car pulled up. Linda climbed out, holding a casserole dish wrapped in foil.
"Where are we going?" she asked brightly.
"I'm going to Nora's," I said.
Her smile dropped. "No, you're not."
"I am."
She stepped in front of the walkway. "You can't just leave every time you get upset. That's not how grown women handle marriage."
"Grown women also don't need permission to leave a porch."
Linda turned to Daniel. "Tell her."
He opened his mouth, then closed it. For once, there was no easy sentence.
Nora moved beside me. "Linda, step back."
"Stay out of my family."
"Emily is my family."
Linda shifted just enough for us to pass. I heard the casserole dish rattle in her hands.
As Nora helped me into the car, Linda leaned toward my window.
"You think leaving changes anything?" she whispered. "Hospitals listen to paperwork."
May you like
Nora started the engine before I could answer. But all the way across town, I kept seeing that forged signature.
Somebody had decided the papers would speak for me.
