Chapter 10 - Everybody Saw Seven Seconds

By dinner, strangers were telling me I should be ashamed. Strangers called me a monster. Someone posted our street. Old friends sent question marks.

Mom had attached a short statement to the video. She said Mara was suffering a serious mental health crisis and she'd feared the baby was in immediate danger. She didn't mention her own grip on Mara's hair. She didn't mention the forged-looking paperwork.

I started typing a furious response. Mara touched my elbow.

"Don't give them another clip."

Sofia issued a short statement confirming a police report and medical documentation. It didn't satisfy the internet. It wasn't meant to.

That night my boss called again. He'd watched the original clip and read my incident statement. He said I wouldn't be put on new client calls yet, but he wasn't firing me. "Get your family safe," he said. "We'll talk about work later."

I sat beside Mara on the edge of our bed. She had finally put Elsie down in her bassinet. We watched her tiny chest rise and fall, the ordinary miracle that had somehow become a battleground.

"People believe her," Mara said.

"Some do."

"They'll believe her forever."

"Then they don't get to know our daughter."

Mara looked at me sharply. It was the first time I'd drawn a line without asking her to help soften it.

A text arrived from Dana: MOM TOLD AUNT RUTH THE BABY IS ALREADY WITH HER. RUTH IS WORRIED. SHE'S CALLING US.

Aunt Ruth answered on speaker and sounded bewildered. Mom had said the hospital had approved Elsie's transfer for a recovery period and that Adam wanted everyone to keep it quiet until Mara was feeling better. Ruth had refused to prepare a crib until she spoke to me directly.

"Helen is my sister," Ruth said, "but this isn't right. She's not thinking clearly."

"Did she tell you how she planned to get Elsie?" I asked.

Ruth took a breath. "She said there was an appointment Monday morning. Something about permission to collect the baby."

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"Where?"

"Your pediatrician's office," Ruth whispered. "She said they'd be expecting her at nine."