A few minutes later, the heavy door to the delivery suite swung open, and Samantha rushed inside with Ronald trailing closely behind her heels. I grinned brightly, lifting the baby up toward them. “Come over here and say your very first hello to your gorgeous new daughter.”
Both of them stopped dead in their tracks, freezing instantly in the center of the room as if someone had poured cold concrete over their feet. Samantha stared blankly at the pink blanket, then at my face, before lowering her gaze back toward the newborn with a look of utter bewilderment.
Ronald’s face drained of color until his skin matched the white hospital sheets beside my bed. “Did you just say the word daughter, Alison?”
“Yes, she is a healthy baby girl,” I replied, my cheerful smile slowly faltering as a cold knot formed deep in my stomach.
“No, that cannot be right,” Ronald stammered out, shaking his head side to side in complete denial. “No, this entire situation is completely wrong.”
