Chapter 5 - BABY A
My daughter weighed five pounds, thirteen ounces.
I named her Sophie.
My son weighed five pounds, one ounce.
I named him Caleb.
Travis and I had chosen the names months earlier.
Using them without him felt strange.
But everything about my marriage felt strange now.
Caleb needed breathing support.
Dr. Patel explained that the placental complication had reduced his oxygen supply during the final stage of labor.
She never said the delay caused everything.
She was too careful for that.
But she did say something I would never forget.
“Earlier medical assessment could have changed the level of risk.”
I stared at her.
“How much earlier?”
She hesitated.
“Minutes matter in situations like yours.”
That sentence became a knife I carried for months.
Minutes mattered.
Travis had given mine to a handbag sale.
Sophie was wheeled into my room that evening.
She was wrapped in a white blanket with tiny pink footprints.
I held her against my chest.
She opened her eyes.
Dark blue.
Serious.
Perfect.
“Hi.”
My voice cracked.
“I’m your mom.”
I kissed her cheek.
“I’m sorry your first day was so crazy.”
A nurse smiled.
“She’s doing beautifully.”
I looked toward the hallway.
“Has Travis left?”
The nurse’s smile vanished.
“Security escorted him out.”
“Why?”
“He became upset when staff would not allow him into the NICU.”
My stomach tightened.
“What did he do?”
“He didn’t hurt anyone.”
“But he raised his voice.”
I almost laughed.
Of course he did.
He had found his urgency.
Three hours too late.
My mother called that night from the cruise ship.
I had not intended to tell my parents until they returned.
Mrs. Alvarez had called them.
My mother’s face appeared on the screen.
The instant she saw me, she started crying.
“We’re getting off at the next port.”
“Mom, you’re in Greece.”
“I don’t care if I have to swim home.”
Despite everything, I laughed.
Then my father appeared behind her.
He did not cry.
My father rarely showed emotion openly.
He simply asked one question.
“Where is Travis?”
I swallowed.
“I don’t know.”
Dad’s jaw tightened.
“Good.”
My parents booked the earliest flight they could find.
Before we disconnected, my mother whispered something.
“Claire.”
“Yes?”
“Do not go back to that house.”
I looked down at Sophie.
May you like
Then toward the NICU where Caleb was fighting to breathe.
“I won’t.”
