Chapter 1

At Max's baptism, I had just lifted my son out of his stroller when David's ex-wife reached out to take him.

Elaine was dressed in a pale apricot dress, a lily brooch labeled "Baby's Mom" on her chest. She cradled Max and took the seat at the center of the main table, the red cushion beneath her and my name clearly displayed on the nameplate at the back.

Sophia Bennett.

I stood beside her, my arms still poised as if holding the baby.

David bent down to adjust Max's blanket for Elaine, whispering, "Support his neck. He's been recognizing people lately, so don't rock him too much."

Elaine smiled, her eyes red. "I remember."

She said she remembered.

It was as if the child in her arms was always meant to be hers.

*****

The main table was packed with elders from both families, and the room grew quiet. My mom first noticed the nameplate on the chair, then glanced at the lily pinned to Elaine's chest, her smile slowly disappearing.

"Why is someone else sitting in Sophia's seat?" she asked.

The banquet manager hurried over, looking embarrassed. "Ms. Bennett, Mr. Harper said Ms. Summers wasn't feeling well and asked her to sit in the inner seat. We're adding another chair."

Two waiters quickly brought over a regular banquet chair, preparing to place it at the outermost edge of the main table. It was right next to the serving entrance, so every time the waiters pushed the cart through, they had to go around the back of the chair.

I stayed standing.

I stared at David. "Why is she wearing my lily brooch?"

My mom pinned that lily brooch to my dress herself. Ten minutes ago, I went to the lounge to nurse Max, and worried the pin might scratch him, so I took it off and left it on the vanity.

Now Elaine was wearing it.

David glanced down, acting like he only now realized.

"Probably just a mix-up with the staff," he said.

"David said we'd be taking photos with the baby today, and I thought it wouldn't look right without the brooch," Elaine said softly, gently touching the petals. "Sophia, if it bothers you, I can give it back."

She offered to give it back, but stayed put, still cradling Max.

Max had just fallen asleep, his little face pressed against her chest, his fingers wrapped around a decorative button on her dress. As Elaine looked down at him, tears dropped onto the blanket, and a few relatives nearby, not knowing what was really happening, gave her sympathetic glances.

David quickly grabbed a tissue and gently wiped away her tears for her.

"No crying today," he said.

Elaine sniffled. "I just remembered the baby we lost."

After Elaine finished speaking, the elders at the main table fell silent.

In their third year of marriage, Elaine suffered a tragic miscarriage at five months pregnant. The baby was lost, and the surgery left her with lasting complications. The doctors said it would be nearly impossible for her to have another child.

After that accident, their marriage only lasted another six months.

That was David's version of the story.

He said there was no love left between them, just a bit of guilt and a sense of responsibility. He also said Elaine's parents were overseas, so she had no one around. When she ran into trouble, he couldn't just turn his back on her.

After I married him, Elaine kept showing up every now and then.

When her pipes broke, she called David.

When she had a stomachache in the middle of the night, she asked David to take her to the hospital.

Whenever she changed jobs, moved, bought a car, or even lost her cat, she always needed David to make the decisions for her.

When I was eight months pregnant, I ended up going to the hospital alone at two in the morning, because Elaine had taken sleeping pills by mistake, and David was sitting at her bedside instead of mine.

When he came back, he hugged me and said, "I was just worried something might happen to her. She's already lost a child. She can't handle any more emotional stress."

He always said the same thing.

She lost a child, so I'm expected to just give way.

I lowered my gaze to Max in her arms, feeling a wave of helplessness wash over me.

He'd spent thirty-nine weeks growing inside me. After my C-section, the wound got infected, and I was stuck in the hospital for nine days. The pain was so bad at night I couldn't even roll over.