Selecting Essential Maternity Wear
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“The night you told me,” he said, “I drove here.”
William gave a humorless laugh.
Caleb ignored him.
“I forced Dad to tell me exactly what happened with your mother.”
“And?”
“He admitted it.”
Caleb looked at his father.
“Then he offered me a deal.”
My stomach tightened.
“What deal?”
“If I stayed away from you until the baby was born, he would release the trust my grandfather left me.”
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“How much?”
“One-point-six million.”
I stared at him.
Caleb continued quickly.
“My grandfather left it to me. Dad has controlled it since I was nineteen.”
“And you agreed?”
“Yes.”
The word hurt more than any excuse could have.
“Why?”
“Because I thought once the money was legally mine, he couldn’t control us anymore. I thought I could stay gone for a few months, get the trust, come back, tell you everything, and give you and the baby a life he could never touch.”
I almost couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
“You disappeared from my life so you could collect money.”
“I disappeared because I thought I was protecting our future.”
“You didn’t even give me a choice.”
He went silent.
Exactly.
“And Nora was born almost two weeks ago.”
“I know.”
“Where were you?”
“The transfer cleared three days ago.”
I laughed bitterly.
“Congratulations.”
“I was packing to leave.”
“Thirteen days, Caleb.”
“I didn’t know what hospital you were in.”
“You could have called.”
“I know.”
“You could have emailed.”
“I know.”
“You could have told me before you vanished.”
His eyes filled.
“I know.”
I looked at him.
Then at William.
Then suddenly understood what made me angriest.
Every man in this story had decided what the women around him were allowed to know.
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William decided what my mother’s choices should cost her.
Grandpa decided what I was allowed to remember about my childhood.
Caleb decided when I deserved the truth about my own relationship.
“You let him choose what I got to know,” I said quietly.
Caleb flinched.
“Emily—”
“That’s what he did to my mother.”
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He looked like I had struck him.
Good.
He needed to understand.
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Then Nora stirred.
Caleb looked down at her.
The anger left his face.
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Something else replaced it.
Wonder.
“She has my eyes.”
I swallowed.
“She does.”
“Can I hold her?”
I hesitated.
Three months earlier, I would have handed her to the man I loved.
But I wasn’t answering as Caleb’s girlfriend anymore.
I was answering as Nora’s mother.
