Chapter 11 - THE BABY DID NOT CARE ABOUT SCANDAL
My obstetrician released me the day after my birthday.
The baby remained reassuring.
No placental injury identified.
No preterm labor.
My back hurt.
My knee turned purple.
I slept badly.
That was the medical reality.
No dramatic emergency delivery.
No weeks in ICU.
No claim Diana nearly killed the baby when medicine could not support that.
She made a pregnant woman fall.
That was serious without exaggeration.
At my condo, I unpacked three dresses.
Prenatal vitamins.
Laptop.
Toothbrush.
Nathan’s side of the closet did not exist there.
That helped.
Lucio arrived with groceries.
Not bodyguards.
Groceries.
“You know how to shop?”
“No.”
“Obviously.”
He had bought eleven lemons.
“Why?”
“You like lemon.”
“In what quantity?”
He looked irritated.
“You’re difficult.”
“You bought enough citrus for a restaurant.”
He almost smiled.
Then asked:
“Are you filing?”
Divorce.
“I don’t know yet.”
He went still.
“If you go back—”
I looked at him.
He stopped.
Good.
May you like
“If you go back,” he corrected, “I will still be your brother.”
That was better.
