I thought he was jealous—until he told me what he had seen at the hospital.
For most of my pregnancy, Elio had been more excited about the baby than anyone else.
He spoke to my stomach every morning before kindergarten. He called the baby “Little Star” until we learned she was a girl, then insisted that we name her Liora because his teacher had told him the name meant light.
My husband, Keaton, laughed when Elio began drawing family pictures with four people instead of three.
“You’re giving her too much hair,” Keaton once said, pointing at the tiny baby in Elio’s drawing.
“She’ll grow it,” Elio replied seriously.
He helped choose the wallpaper for the nursery, although his first choice had been dinosaurs fighting astronauts. We settled on pale clouds and small golden stars.
At the store, Elio found a stuffed rabbit with one ear slightly lower than the other. He held it against my stomach and announced that Liora had chosen it.
I bought it even though money was tight.
For nine years, Keaton and I had built what I believed was a safe marriage. We had ordinary arguments about laundry, bills, and whose turn it was to buy milk, but I trusted him.
He worked in financial planning and often stayed late at the office. Sometimes he traveled with clients. I never questioned it because he always came home with something for Elio—a toy car from the airport, a hotel pen, a packet of cookies from the plane.
Looking back, I can see how easily small gifts can cover large lies.
My labor began two weeks early.
Everything happened quickly at first. Then it did not.
Liora’s heart rate dropped. Nurses moved around me with voices that were too calm. Keaton stood beside the bed, gripping my hand while a doctor explained that they needed to perform an emergency procedure.
I remember the ceiling lights moving above me.
I remember asking whether my baby was safe.
Someone told me they were doing everything they could.
After that, my memories became pieces instead of a complete night.
A nurse placed a baby against my chest.
Keaton was crying.
I tried to lift my head, but my body felt heavy and far away.
The baby wore a small white cap decorated with pink flowers. Her eyes were closed. I touched her cheek and whispered her name.
