Chapters (65)
- Cover
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- Part One
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Part Two
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Forty-Eight
- Forty-Nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-One
- Part Three
- Fifty-Two
- Fifty-Three
- Fifty-Four
- Fifty-Five
- Fifty-Six
- Acknowledgments
- About the Author
- About the Publisher
“We’ll see you tomorrow,” said Hal, taking the baby over to Cally’s bed and setting her down gently, like an extra pillow next to Cally’s head. Cally reached over and put her hand on the baby, keeping her from falling.
“I thought you said Cally was gonna rest?” I said to Hal. “Why’d you give her the baby? You should have put her in the bassinet.”
Hal frowned at me and shook his head as if I were talking nonsense. I’d been overruled. He smiled at Cally, and she weakly waved goodbye.
As we rode home together that first night after meeting our baby, we were alone in the car and silent. This was supposed to be the best night of our lives, the night our child was born, but Hal had ruined it. He didn’t even know what he’d done wrong. He had no clue how he was acting. Or how I was feeling. I leaned toward the passenger window and turned away from him. I wanted to get as far away from him as I could, and I didn’t want him to see my face.
“What a night,” he said finally, at a red light.
“Yeah,” I said without enthusiasm.
“She’s perfect, isn’t she? Just perfect.”
“Yeah.” My breath fogged up the cold window. I didn’t mention the pimples or the splotches or any of the things I’d noticed about her that weren’t perfect. Her nose. Her massive head of hair.
“What is it, Poppy?”
I could sense him looking at me. I didn’t know where to start. While I was holding her, he’d decided my turn was up, and he’d taken the baby out of my arms and given her to Cally. He’d touched Cally’s shoulder. And I didn’t like the way he’d looked at her: it was like she was the mother, not me. Like he was saying, Good job. The simple fact was that he’d made a baby with this woman, not with me, and I was supposed to be happy about it.
“Nothing,” I said. “Just tired.”
“Well, you’d better get your rest,” he said. “Soon you won’t be getting much.”
“Mm-hmm,” I said. Hal loved to complain about the sleep disruption.
“Just think,” he continued. “In thirty-six short hours, our little angel will come home with us. We’ll become our own family.”
“I thought we already were,” I said as quietly as I could.
“What’d you say?”