Chapter 4 - BABY NOAH
Our son didn't cry when he was born.
That silence nearly destroyed me.
I was awake during the C-section.
I felt pressure.
Movement.
Doctors speaking quickly.
Then nothing.
No newborn scream.
No joyful announcement.
I turned my head toward Daniel.
"Why isn't he crying?"
Daniel's eyes were fixed beyond the surgical curtain.
"Daniel?"
A nurse hurried past us.
"What's happening?"
Then finally—
A tiny sound.
Weak.
More like a cough than a cry.
But it was enough.
I sobbed.
Daniel broke down beside me.
"He's here."
Our son, Noah, weighed just over four pounds.
I saw him for maybe five seconds.
Tiny face.
Dark hair.
A little hand moving beneath a blanket.
Then the NICU team took him away.
"Is he okay?" I asked.
One doctor nodded.
"He's breathing with support. We'll know more soon."
Soon.
I would learn to hate that word.
Soon meant nobody wanted to promise you anything.
Hours later, I woke in recovery.
Daniel sat beside me.
His eyes were red.
"How's Noah?"
"Stable."
"Stable good or stable bad?"
"Stable good for now."
I closed my eyes in relief.
Then I remembered the bottle.
"What did the officer find?"
Daniel didn't answer.
"Daniel."
He looked toward the door.
"It was an old prescription bottle with your name on it."
"Old?"
"From when you had that urinary infection early in the pregnancy."
I remembered the antibiotic.
"But I finished it months ago."
"I know."
"Why was it at your parents' house?"
He shook his head.
"They're testing what's inside."
A knock came.
Officer Harris entered.
He looked exhausted.
"Mrs. Carter, how are you feeling?"
"Like I got cut open six hours ago."
He gave a faint smile.
"Fair."
Daniel stood.
"Did you arrest her?"
"Your mother has been detained pending further investigation."
"My mother," Daniel said coldly.
Harris nodded.
"We also reviewed security footage from the house."
I looked at Daniel.
"They have cameras?"
"Your dad installed them after the break-in last year."
Officer Harris opened a tablet.
"The kitchen camera captured the assault clearly."
Daniel exhaled.
Margaret could no longer claim I caused it.
But Harris wasn't finished.
"The footage also captured something earlier in the evening."
My stomach tightened.
"What?"
He looked directly at me.
"About twenty minutes before dinner, your mother-in-law entered the kitchen alone."
He tapped the screen.
"She opened your purse."
Daniel leaned forward.
Harris continued.
"Then she took out your water bottle."
My mouth went dry.
"And?"
"She poured something into it."
The room went completely silent.
Daniel whispered, "What?"
Officer Harris looked at both of us.
"The lab is testing the bottle now."
I stared at Daniel.
The kick had almost killed our son.
May you like
But apparently, before Margaret kicked me—
She had already tried something else.
