Rachel swallowed.
“Almost three weeks ago.”
His face changed.
“Three weeks?”
She nodded.
“I slipped near the sink. I landed badly.”
Daniel moved closer.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“Because your mother was here.”
Pregnancy& Maternity
Daniel looked confused.
“What does that have to do with anything?”
Rachel gave a broken laugh.
“You really don’t know.”
Three weeks earlier, Daniel had been at work late.
A shipment had arrived at the hardware store, and he had stayed to help unload everything.
That evening, Margaret had visited Rachel.
She had not come with dinner.
She had not come to help.
She had come with accusations.
“You’re making my son into your servant,” Margaret had said.
Rachel had been sitting at the kitchen table, organizing baby clothes.
Kitchen& Dining
“I never asked Daniel to do anything.”
“You don’t have to ask. Women like you know how to make men feel guilty.”
Rachel remembered trying to stay calm.
She remembered telling herself that Margaret was simply difficult.
Then Margaret had noticed the ultrasound photos on the refrigerator.
A small smile had crossed her face.
“You really think this baby will keep him?”
Rachel looked up.
“What?”
Margaret stepped closer.
“You think giving him a child means you own him?”
ChildCare
Rachel had been shocked.
“I love Daniel.”
Margaret laughed.
“That’s what women always say.”
The argument grew.
Rachel tried to walk away.
She remembered reaching for the counter.
Then the pain.
The fall.
The terrifying realization that something was wrong.
Margaret had been the only person there.
And instead of calling Daniel immediately, she had done something much worse.
She had convinced Rachel to stay quiet.
“You don’t want to ruin his life, do you?”
Rachel had been crying on the kitchen floor.
Kitchen& Dining
“I need a doctor.”
Margaret had knelt beside her.
“No.”
Rachel remembered those words clearly.
“No?”
“No, because then Daniel will blame himself. He will think he failed you. He will spend every day worrying. And eventually, he will resent you.”
