Chapter 2 - THE FIRST HEIR
The phrase had been around since June was born.
First heir.
I disliked it immediately.
Not because June would inherit nothing.
She would inherit whatever her parents and other relatives lawfully chose to leave her.
But children are not job titles.
Eudora used the phrase before June even had a birth certificate.
At the hospital:
“Our first heir.”
At home:
“The Marlow first heir.”
On a floral card:
WELCOME, FIRST HEIR.
Tessa corrected her once.
“Her name is June.”
Eudora smiled.
“Of course.”
Then continued.
Daniel Marlow was Eudora’s only son.
Brielle was older.
Neither had children before June.
Brielle had been married once, divorced, and had undergone emergency surgery after a ruptured ectopic pregnancy four years earlier.
She could no longer carry a pregnancy safely.
That grief was real.
We did not know how much it had shaped what came next.
When Tessa became pregnant, Brielle was attentive.
Too attentive, maybe.
She attended one ultrasound because Tessa invited her.
Then asked to attend another.
Then another.
Tessa eventually said no.
Brielle responded:
“I’m just excited.”
Reasonable.
Then the nursery.
Tessa chose soft yellow walls.
Brielle bought pink furniture.
Tessa returned it.
Eudora called her:
“ungrateful.”
At the baby shower planning meeting before birth, Brielle said:
“I should have a room for June at Mom’s.”
Tessa laughed because she thought it was a joke.
Brielle did not.
Then June arrived.
Six pounds, thirteen ounces.
Healthy.
And Eudora’s language sharpened.
“This child carries the Marlow line.”
“She has Tessa’s eyes, but she’s all Marlow around the mouth.”
“She should spend enough time at the estate to know where she comes from.”
I heard some of it.
I dismissed it as grandmother nonsense.
May you like
That was my first mistake.
Words are not harmless just because older relatives repeat them with good china nearby.
