Chapter 10: A Mother’s Choice
The officer arrived before Dr. Patel came back.
He didn’t ask Hannah to prove she was afraid. He pulled a chair beside hers and let her decide when to speak. For a while, she only stared at the hospital bracelet on June’s wrist.
Then my phone buzzed.
An unknown number. A message appeared on the screen.
Tell Hannah she can still leave tonight. Cash and a ride. No need to make this worse.
Hannah read it over my shoulder. Her face went very still.
“Is that him?” the officer asked.
“It’s what he always does,” she said. “Makes disappearing sound like something he’s giving me.”
She set my phone on the table, turned its screen toward the officer, and drew a shaky breath.
“I want to make a statement.”
The officer switched on a small recorder. Hannah spoke slowly at first, correcting herself when panic tangled her words. She told him she had withdrawn consent before June was born. She told him Graham had her original phone. She told him she had said no to Daniel in the hospital room and watched him take June anyway.
When her voice cracked, she stopped.
The officer waited.
Hannah wiped her cheek with the heel of her hand.
“I’m not leaving town,” she said. “I’m not taking his money. Put that in the recording, too.”
The officer did.
I stayed beside her, but I didn’t reach for her hand. This wasn’t a moment for me to make myself feel useful. It belonged to her.
Later, sitting in the hospital parking lot with June asleep against me, I called Mrs. Alvarez. Leo answered before she could.
“Mom?”
“Hi, sweetheart.”
“Is June okay?”
“She’s sleeping. She’s safe with me right now.”
He went quiet. I heard Mrs. Alvarez moving dishes in the background, the soft clink of a spoon against a glass.
“Are you coming home?” he asked.
“Yes. But first I need to tell you something important, and I don’t want you to hear it from someone else.”
His voice shrank. “What?”
“June is Hannah’s daughter. Hannah gave birth to her. The papers Daniel brought home don’t change that.”
“So she’s not my sister?”
I shut my eyes. The answer hurt even before I said it.
“She’s the baby we love,” I told him. “And she’s Hannah’s daughter. I don’t know what the future will look like, Leo. I won’t pretend I do.”
“Does that mean I have to stop loving her?”
“No. You don’t have to stop loving anyone.”
He sniffed. “I don’t want her to go.”
“I know.”
I didn’t tell him it would be all right. It might not feel all right for a long time.
When I ended the call, Daniel’s name appeared on my screen.
I almost let it ring out. Then June stirred against my chest, and the sound she made was so small I couldn’t bear another secret growing around her.
I answered.
“I’m at home,” Daniel said. His voice sounded strained, like he’d been running. “Mara, listen. I can take June and leave. If I’m gone, Graham can’t use you to—”
“No.”
“I’m trying to keep you clear of this.”
“You don’t get to make another decision for me and call it protection.”
A long silence.
“I know what I did,” he said.
“You know enough to stop doing it.”
I heard him breathe. “I’ll be there when you get home.”
The officer walked us out. Hannah chose to stay with him and give the rest of her statement. She looked at June for a long moment before we parted.
“I’m not asking you to give her to me,” she said. “I’m asking you not to help them make me disappear.”
“I won’t.”
She nodded once, as if she needed no more comfort than that.
By the time I reached our street, a gray afternoon had settled over the houses. Mrs. Alvarez brought Leo to the front door, his small hand locked around hers. He ran to me, then stopped short of June’s carrier, unsure whether he was allowed to come close.
I opened my arm.
He pressed his cheek against my coat.
Daniel stood in the living room. His eyes went to June first, then to Leo, then to the phone in my hand.
For a few minutes, nothing happened. The house held its breath around us.
Then my phone began to vibrate.
A neighbor had sent a video. It showed me outside the Calders’ house, June in my arms, Graham’s voice shouting from somewhere offscreen. The clip began with me turning toward the patrol car and ended with my mouth open mid-sentence.
The caption read: WOMAN ADMITS SHE HAS A STOLEN BABY.
I watched it once. That was enough.
Another message arrived. Then another. People from our block had shared it. A woman I recognized from the corner store had commented beneath it: I knew something was off. A second neighbor posted a screenshot with my house visible in the background.
Leo looked up at me.
“Are they saying you stole June?”
“They’re saying something that isn’t true.”
Daniel took a step closer. “This is Graham. He’s trying to—”
“I know who’s trying to control the story.”
My phone vibrated again. A new message, this time from a neighbor across the street.
Police coming back? Should we keep the kids inside?
Leo saw the words. His fingers tightened around my sleeve.
I went to the nursery to check on June. The pink blanket lay folded over the edge of the bassinet. One corner dangled almost to the floor.
The bassinet was empty.
May you like
I turned toward the front window.
Daniel’s car was gone.
