Chapter 4 - The Photograph
Around noon, Lauren finally managed to get Noah to sleep on her chest.
She sat on the living room sofa, afraid to move. Her phone was on the table, just beyond her reach.
In the kitchen, Patricia and Melissa laughed over something on Patricia’s phone.
A few minutes later, Lauren heard the camera sound.
Patricia had taken a photograph of her.
Lauren’s hair was unwashed. A stained cloth rested on her shoulder. Toys and medicine bottles covered the table around her.
“What are you doing?” Lauren asked.
Patricia smiled.
“You looked funny.”
“Delete it.”
“Oh, don’t be so sensitive. I was going to send it to Ethan.”
Melissa laughed. “Caption it, ‘Supermom losing the battle.’”
Lauren felt something inside her break.
She carefully stood, keeping Noah against her chest.
“My child is sick. I haven’t slept. You’ve both been sitting here all day while I do everything, and you think this is funny?”
Patricia’s smile disappeared.
“No one told you to behave like a martyr.”
“I asked both of you for help.”
“You asked us to expose ourselves to an illness.”
“I asked you to hold him for five minutes.”
Melissa rolled her eyes.
“You’re his mother. It’s your responsibility.”
Lauren looked at her.
“And the dishes?”
Melissa said nothing.
“The cooking? The laundry you leave on the floor? The coffee you expect me to make?”
Patricia stood.
“This conversation is becoming disrespectful.”
“You took a picture of me at my lowest moment.”
“This is Ethan’s house,” Patricia said sharply. “You should remember whose family welcomed you into it.”
Lauren’s face went still.
The house had been purchased after the wedding, but only Ethan’s name appeared on the original mortgage because Lauren had been completing her nursing degree and had little income at the time.
Patricia had used that fact whenever she wanted to remind Lauren that security could be taken away.
Lauren carried Noah upstairs and locked the bedroom door.
May you like
Then she called Ethan.
He did not answer.
