Chapter 4 - My Husband’s Baby
I actually laughed.
One short, broken sound.
Not because anything was funny.
Because my brain refused to accept the sentence.
Jackson stared at my phone.
“What did you say?”
Lorraine inhaled shakily.
“The baby is yours.”
“No.”
“Jackson—”
“No.”
His voice sharpened.
“I don’t have another child.”
Cassandra turned away.
That told me more than any confession could.
I looked at my husband.
“Jackson?”
He shook his head.
“Emily, I swear to God.”
“Then why does your sister look like she’s about to throw up?”
“I don’t know!”
Officer Grant spoke into the phone.
“Lorraine, where is the infant now?”
“With me.”
“Is the child safe?”
“Yes.”
“Where are you?”
“I’m coming back.”
Grant’s voice hardened.
“Do not keep driving if you’re emotional. Pull over and tell me your location.”
The call ended.
“Damn it.”
Grant immediately radioed dispatch.
Jackson walked toward Cassandra.
“What did you do?”
“Nothing.”
“What did you do?”
“I was helping someone.”
“Who?”
She looked at me, then back at him.
“That’s not my story to tell.”
I almost crossed the room and shook her.
“My three-year-old got locked in a room because of your secret!”
“I didn’t mean for that to happen.”
My voice dropped.
“So you did lock her in?”
Cassandra shut her eyes.
Jackson whispered, “Cass.”
“She wouldn’t stop crying.”
My body went cold.
Cassandra rushed on.
“Not like that. I wasn’t hurting her. Mom was panicking. The baby was screaming. Mia kept asking questions.”
“So you imprisoned her?”
“For ten minutes.”
Officer Rivera said, “How long ago?”
Cassandra didn’t answer.
“HOW LONG AGO?”
“Maybe two hours.”
I stood so fast Mia startled.
“Two hours?”
“She had juice!”
“You left my child alone for two hours?”
“I was coming back!”
“Where did you go?”
She stared at the floor.
Jackson stepped closer.
“Cass, whose baby is it?”
Her lips trembled.
Then she reached into her purse.
Officer Rivera moved immediately.
“Hands where I can see them.”
“It’s just my phone.”
She pulled it out slowly.
Her fingers moved across the screen.
Then she held it toward Jackson.
A photograph.
Jackson took the phone.
I watched his face change.
The picture showed a newborn wrapped in a gray blanket.
Tiny nose.
Dark hair.
Hospital bracelet.
Jackson zoomed in.
“What am I looking at?”
Cassandra whispered, “Read the bracelet.”
His eyes dropped.
Then he stopped breathing.
I took the phone from him.
The bracelet read:
BABY BOY MERCER.
My maiden name was Mercer.
I looked at Cassandra.
“What is this?”
She started crying.
“He isn’t Jackson’s child.”
I stared at her.
“Then why did Lorraine say he was?”
Cassandra met my eyes.
“Because she thinks Jackson is your daughter’s biological father.”
My stomach dropped.
“What?”
Cassandra wiped her face.
“But he isn’t.”
Jackson turned toward me.
And suddenly the room felt too small to breathe.
May you like
Because Mia’s paternity had never been a question.
At least, not until that moment.
