Chapter 3
That afternoon, Mom went to pick up my prescription. Daniel promised to stay home with me.
I had been asleep for half an hour when the sound of the door closing woke me.
A note sat on the dining table.
Kate's suitcase broke. I'm taking her to buy another one. I'll be back in two hours.
The doctor had just warned me not to stay alone, and Daniel had handed his responsibility to a piece of paper.
I called him.
"You promised to wait until my mother came back."
I heard a car door close on his end.
"She'll be there any minute. Kate can't move three suitcases by herself, and Sophie went out to see friends. I'm only helping her replace one."
"I came home from labor and delivery triage last night."
"Which means you should be lying down, not standing there arguing with me."
He paused.
"Stop making me choose between you and them every time I do something."
He ended the call.
Holding the wall for support, I walked to the kitchen. The blood pressure monitor gave me two warning readings in a row.
The on-call nurse told me to lie on my side and wait for someone to return. If the bleeding started again, I was to call an ambulance immediately.
Half an hour later, Sophie called.
"Emma, I'm sorry. Dad said you already knew Mom was coming, so I sent you the photo. I didn't know you'd gone to labor and delivery. He only said you weren't feeling well."
"This isn't your fault."
I paused.
"Sophie, did you ever tell him you wanted only your biological parents at graduation?"
"No."
Her answer came immediately.
"I sent you an invitation. I said I hoped you could come if your doctor cleared you. Dad told me later that you didn't want to fly and suggested Mom come with me instead."
Two screenshots arrived on my phone.
The original invitation was clear. If my doctor approved the trip, Sophie wanted me there.
The second screenshot came from the graduation trip group chat.
Its profile picture was an old photograph.
Daniel, Kate, and ten-year-old Sophie stood in front of a Christmas tree, looking like a family that had never broken apart.
Kate had written, "We finally get another picture with just the three of us. Our little family."
Daniel had replied with a red heart.
Below that was a gray system message.
Daniel removed Emma from the group.
The date was three weeks earlier.
At the time, he was still telling me the travel details had not been finalized.
"I only just found that message," Sophie said quietly. "Dad kept saying you chose not to come. I didn't even know you had ever been added to the chat."
He had told me his daughter wanted only her biological parents.
He had told his daughter I did not want to be part of the family.
"Are you two fighting because of me?" Sophie asked.
"None of this is your responsibility."
I would not let her carry the consequences of her father's choices.
"You didn't ask him to lie, and you didn't ask him to leave when I needed him."
Mom returned just as the call ended.
She saw me alone in bed, then looked at my blood pressure readings. Her expression changed at once.
"Where is Daniel?"
"Shopping for a suitcase with Kate."
Mom dropped the pharmacy bag onto the table and called him from my phone.
"She came home from labor and delivery last night. The doctor said she can't be alone. You promised to wait until I returned. Where are you?"
"Kate's suitcase broke. I'll be back soon."
"The store has employees. Your ex-wife can wait. Emma cannot."
"The baby isn't in danger right now. Stop making this sound worse than it is."
Mom tightened her grip on the phone.
"Nine years ago, you promised me you would never make her carry everything alone."
She glanced toward me on the bed.
"Now she's carrying your child, and she keeps having to wait for someone else to come save her."
Daniel was silent for several seconds.
"This is between Emma and me."
Mom's voice turned cold.
"Daniel, she is my daughter. The moment you started weighing her safety and the baby's against someone else's convenience, it stopped being only between the two of you."
She ended the call. Her hand was still trembling.
I opened the bedside drawer and took out my hospital contact form.
Daniel's name appeared in every space: emergency contact, person authorized to access my medical records, and support person for delivery.
I crossed it out and wrote Mom's name in all three places.
That evening, I submitted the changes through the patient portal.
The confirmation arrived within minutes.