Chapter 2 - The Child They Had Already Named
Anna remained motionless until the bedroom door closed.
She counted to three hundred before opening her eyes.
Her heart pounded so hard she feared Aaron might hear it from the hallway.
Until her body gives us what we need.
The sentence repeated in her mind.
She did not know whether they meant a child, money or something worse.
Anna had inherited a modest trust from her father, but Aaron had already persuaded her to make him co-manager. The trust could not be transferred completely until she turned thirty-two.
Her thirty-second birthday was four months away.
Perhaps that was what they wanted.
Yet the letter specifically mentioned pregnancy.
The next morning, Sylvia entered carrying the silver cup and a plate of dry toast.
“You look pale.”
“I didn’t sleep well.”
“Drink.”
Anna accepted the cup.
She had hidden an empty perfume bottle beneath her sleeve. When Sylvia turned toward the curtains, Anna poured several drops into it.
She swallowed enough to wet her lips.
Sylvia watched carefully.
“All of it.”
“My stomach hurts.”
“That means it’s working.”
“What is it supposed to do?”
Sylvia’s smile did not reach her eyes.
“Correct you.”
Anna stared at her.
Sylvia took the cup and left.
For the next week, Anna secretly collected samples. She wrapped the perfume bottle in a sock and hid it inside the lining of an old suitcase.
She also began marking the calendar.
After each dose, she experienced dizziness, memory gaps and unusual bleeding. Twice, she woke in a different room with no memory of leaving her bed.
On the ninth day, she heard Aaron and Sylvia arguing downstairs.
“She’s not responding like the others,” Sylvia said.
“There were no others.”
“Don’t be childish.”
“You promised me Anna was different.”
“She is. That’s why you married her.”
Anna stood barefoot on the staircase.
A floorboard creaked.
The voices stopped.
Aaron appeared at the bottom of the stairs.
For a moment, neither of them moved.
Then he smiled.
“You should be resting.”
“Who were you talking about?”
“My mother’s former patients.”
“She wasn’t a doctor.”
“She worked with doctors.”
“What does that mean?”
Aaron climbed the stairs.
With every step, Anna fought the urge to retreat.
When he reached her, he gently brushed hair from her face.
“You’ve been confused lately.”
“I heard her say I wasn’t responding like the others.”
“You misheard.”
“I didn’t.”
His expression changed.
The warmth disappeared first.
Then the smile.
He gripped her elbow.
“You’re becoming difficult again.”
Anna pulled away.
Aaron tightened his hand.
“Let go.”
“Lower your voice.”
“You’re hurting me.”
“You’re hurting yourself.”
Sylvia emerged from the dining room carrying the silver cup.
“Everything all right?”
Aaron looked at his mother.
“She’s having another episode.”
Anna stared at them both.
“I am not having an episode.”
Sylvia sighed.
“That is what you always say.”
“I’ve never had an episode.”
Aaron dragged her toward the bedroom.
Anna fought him, but her body was still weakened by whatever they had been giving her.
He pushed her onto the bed.
Sylvia placed the cup on the nightstand.
“Drink,” Aaron ordered.
“No.”
His eyes narrowed.
“Don’t make this worse.”
Anna knocked the cup away.
It struck the wall, spilling gray liquid across the wallpaper.
Aaron slapped her.
The sound echoed through the room.
For several seconds, no one spoke.
Then Sylvia examined the stain.
“You wasted it.”
“She made me.”
“No,” Sylvia said. “You lost control.”
Aaron’s face reddened.
He raised his hand again.
His mother caught his wrist.
“Not her abdomen.”
Anna looked down instinctively.
Sylvia noticed.
A strange smile appeared on her face.
“You haven’t realized yet, have you?”
Anna’s stomach tightened.
“Realized what?”
Sylvia turned toward Aaron.
“Bring the test.”
He left the room.
Anna stared after him.
“What test?”
Neither answered.
Aaron returned holding a white box.
He dropped it beside Anna.
“Take it.”
Her fingers shook as she opened the package.
Ten minutes later, two pink lines appeared.
Anna sat on the bathroom floor.
She should have felt joy.
Instead, she heard Sylvia speaking through the door.
“If it’s a girl, we try again.”
Aaron answered quietly.
“And if it’s a boy?”
Sylvia’s voice softened with satisfaction.
“Then we name him Julian.”
Anna covered her mouth.
May you like
Julian had been the name of Aaron’s older brother.
The brother who, according to Aaron, had died before he was born.
