My mother touched my cheek gently, as if I were still a little boy.
“Ethan, she’s family now,” she assured me. “Go do your job. Your wife and your son will be perfectly safe here.”
Ashley smiled while lifting Noah’s tiny hand with one finger.
“You’re acting like you’re the only person who loves them,” she joked. “Relax. We’ve got this.”
I believed them.
That was my first mistake.
During the four days I was away, I called home constantly. Every single time, my mother answered instead of Emily. Whenever she briefly turned the camera toward the bedroom, Emily looked pale, exhausted, and barely awake beneath the weak yellow light beside the bed.
One time, Emily whispered my name faintly before my mother immediately grabbed the phone back.
“She’s emotional,” Mom said sharply. “All women cry after giving birth. Don’t upset her more.”
