Chapter 2
I clenched my teeth and threw the pen on the floor, and it rolled to Eric's feet.
"Eric, what exactly are you trying to pull?" I snapped.
His face went rigid and irritation flickered in his eyes. He bent down, picked up the pen, blew on it, and set it back beside my hand.
"Honey, I've told you, this isn't a big deal. Talking about money only ruins a marriage. Sign it and we go on the way we were. Don't sign it," he paused, "and it looks like I'm scheming against you."
"Isn't that exactly what you're doing?" I shot back.
"See, you're getting worked up again." He stood and crossed his arms with a wounded look. "Three years of marriage. You know exactly how I've treated you. Hearing you talk like that stings."
My water had broken, I was in agony, and he was the one who felt wounded.
"You're hurt?" My voice was raw. "You shove a contract at me while I'm in labor and you tell me you're hurt?"
"I'm not forcing you," he corrected me. "I'm discussing it with you. I meant to bring it up last week, but you were having a hard time in the third trimester, and I didn't want you reading into it, so I figured we could take care of it today."
"Today, of all days?" I said.
"The lawyer keeps pushing. He says it's better to sort this out before the baby comes. It wasn't only my idea."
He handed the blame to the lawyer.
The nurse came in a third time, and her patience was gone. "Sir, if the epidural doesn't go in now, it will be too late. Are you signing the surgical consent or not?"
Eric turned to her and switched on a worried face.
"Sorry, nurse. My wife is a little nervous. Give me a minute to calm her down. Is the consent form here? I'll sign it right away."
He took the consent form, glanced at it, and set it aside without signing.
The nurse looked at us, then turned and walked out.
The second the door closed, Eric dropped the worried act. He walked back to the bed and pushed the pen into my hand.
"Sign."
His tone was flat and left no room for refusal.
Emily North came running into the room, her hair a mess.
Her eyes went red the moment she saw the papers, and she grabbed for the waiver.
"Eric, are you even human?" she shouted. "You're making her sign away everything while she's in labor? What kind of man does that?"
Bianca put out a hand to stop her. "This is a family matter. You're an outsider, so stay out of it."
"An outsider?" Emily laughed, furious. "She's been my best friend since we were kids.
"Her parents put 270 thousand dollars into that place, and your son wants her to sign it away? Is that what your family calls decent?"
"Emily." I held her arm and shook my head, because I didn't want her wasting her breath.
I turned to Eric.
"I won't sign. So tell me what happens after the baby comes. Formula, diapers, shots, and a night nurse.
"You make 6,700 dollars a month, and 5,000 of it goes straight to your mother. What is 1,700 supposed to cover?"
Eric's eyes flickered.
"And that 300,000 dollars you borrowed for your startup, you said it was a loan, not an investment. So when are you paying it back?
"It's been three years, and I haven't seen a dollar of interest. Your company cleared more than 1.3 million dollars last year, and you're telling me you're broke?"
He said nothing, and Bianca jumped in. "Sarah, you can't look at it that way. We're family."
"Family?" I pointed at the waiver. "Since when does family need a document like this?"
Bianca stopped talking.
I stared at Eric. "And all that talk about the money being a mess if something goes wrong. Eric, are you hoping something goes wrong?"
"What are you saying?" His face darkened.
"Then why do you have to make me sign this right before I go into the delivery room?"
He had no answer, and after a few seconds his voice went soft again.
He said, "Honey, you're overthinking it. I'm just scared, you know? I didn't sleep at all last night, my mind was full of you and the baby.
"I only want everything settled in advance."
"Then put your 170 thousand dollars in premarital savings on the table too," I said.
He froze. "What?"
"You sign one too. You give up yours, I give up mine. That's fair, isn't it?"
He stared at me without a word. Bianca panicked. "Sarah, that money is Eric's. How could you even ask?"
"Mom." Eric raised a hand to stop her, and his eyes stayed on me. "We can talk about that later. Sign this first, and we'll deal with the rest after the baby."
"Then we'll sign it after the baby is born," I said.
"No," he said, his voice firm.
His tone hardened. "It has to be right now."