Chapter 2 - WHAT DAD KNEW
I turned so fast Emma stirred against my shoulder.
"What about Lauren and Emma?"
Dad looked at Mom.
Mom's face changed.
It was small, but I saw it.
Fear.
"Robert," she warned.
Dad ignored her.
"Two months ago, Lauren babysat Emma here for an hour while your mother ran to the pharmacy."
My stomach dropped.
"You told me Mom was with her the whole time."
Mom pushed back from the table.
"Nothing happened."
Dad rubbed both hands over his face.
"When I got home, Emma was crying in the guest room with the door closed. Lauren was downstairs watching television."
I stared at my sister.
Lauren folded her arms.
"She was fed. She was safe. Babies cry."
"How long?" I asked.
No one answered.
"How long was my six-week-old baby alone upstairs?"
Dad swallowed.
"I don't know."
I looked at Mom.
"You knew?"
"Claire, your sister was overwhelmed."
"She left my newborn alone behind a closed door."
"For a little while."
James moved closer to me.
I could feel the anger rolling off him, but his voice stayed controlled.
"Why wasn't my wife told?"
Mom snapped, "Because you were deployed and Claire was already stressed. We were helping."
"Helping?" I said. "You lied to me."
Lauren grabbed her purse from the back of a chair.
"This family is insane. I'm not standing here while Captain Perfect interrogates me."
She headed for the foyer.
James did not block her.
He simply stepped aside.
"Leave."
Lauren pointed at me.
"When Mom ends up in the hospital because of this, remember you caused it."
The front door slammed behind her.
Emma whimpered.
That tiny sound ended the argument for me.
I turned to James.
"We're going."
This time nobody stopped us.
Ten minutes later we were driving through falling snow toward the nearest urgent care that treated infants.
I sat in the back seat with Emma, watching every breath she took.
James drove with both hands locked around the steering wheel.
"I should have seen it," I whispered.
"No," he said.
"I trusted them."
"So did I."
When I said my sister had slapped her, the nurse's expression changed.
She stepped into the hall.
A few minutes later, a doctor entered with a clipboard.
"Emma looks okay physically," she said. "But because an adult intentionally struck an infant, I need to document this carefully."
My heart pounded.
"Document it for what?"
Before she could answer, James's phone buzzed.
He looked at the screen.
His face hardened.
"Claire," he said, "your sister just posted something about us online."
He handed me the phone.
Lauren's post had already been shared forty-three times.
May you like
And the first line read:
MY BROTHER-IN-LAW THREATENED ME AT CHRISTMAS BECAUSE I TRIED TO PROTECT HIS BABY.
