Chapter 5 - THE OBSTETRICIAN’S FILE
Dr. Brooks called me personally.
“Did you authorize your mother-in-law to contact our office about your delivery?”
“No.”
“Did you authorize Camille?”
“No.”
Silence.
Then:
“I need you to come in.”
Not emergency.
Administrative safety meeting.
Stellan came because I asked.
Dr. Brooks showed us notes from the clinic portal.
Three weeks earlier:
Caller identifying as family coordinator requested delivery-plan update.
Asked whether maternal anxiety might limit immediate newborn care.
Asked whether a postpartum caregiver could be added.
Asked how hospital staff handled “temporary neonatal placement.”
The receptionist gave general information.
No private medical details.
Good.
Then a portal message arrived from an email address that looked like mine.
arden.sutton.family@...
Not my email.
It requested:
Camille added as postpartum support person.
Celeste approved for newborn discharge discussions.
No direct discharge authority had been granted.
The hospital required identity verification at admission.
So again:
The scheme had not succeeded.
But groundwork existed.
Who created the fake email?
Digital investigation traced recovery phone to Camille.
Her lawyer said she created it as a shared “family pregnancy account” after discussing organization with Celeste.
Did I know?
No.
Did Stellan?
No.
Camille had used my name.
That crossed another line.
Then the medical question:
“Maternal anxiety.”
Why?
Dr. Brooks had never diagnosed me with an anxiety disorder.
I was not taking psychiatric medication.
I had cried once during an appointment after a pregnancy scare.
Normal.
Yet someone was building a narrative.
Naomi obtained the alternate petition that evening after the judge ordered production of nonprivileged final drafts.
PROPOSED EMERGENCY TEMPORARY GUARDIANSHIP PETITION.
Not filed.
Draft.
Allegations:
Arden demonstrating escalating emotional instability.
Potential postpartum incapacity.
Hostility toward extended family.
Inconsistent acceptance of pregnancy support.
Risk of “impulsive departure” after delivery.
I laughed.
“Impulsive departure?”
Naomi pointed.
“They cite your refusal to move into Celeste’s house during the third trimester.”
I had refused because the guest room smelled like mothballs.
Apparently independence was diagnostic now.
The draft sought temporary placement of the newborn with Stellan.
Not Camille.
That surprised me.
Then a second step:
If Stellan were unavailable due work travel, Camille named preferred temporary caregiver.
There.
They could not simply ask a court to hand my child to an aunt while both parents were competent.
So the strategy moved through Stellan.
Use his parental status.
Then his travel.
Then Camille.
Would it work?
Naomi shook her head.
“Not on these facts.”
“Then why?”
“Pressure. Delay. Narrative. Maybe they believed you would surrender rather than fight.”
Stellan stared at the petition.
“They planned to use me.”
“Yes,” I said.
He looked at me.
“And I made it easier.”
“Yes.”
No comfort.
Not yet.
Then Dr. Brooks asked me:
“Who do you want in the delivery room?”
“Stellan.”
He looked up.
I surprised myself.
“Only Stellan.”
Celeste and Camille were both placed on restricted-access lists.
Hospital security notified.
No family exception.
No trust override.
No grandmother entitlement.
My medical record now contained one simple instruction:
Patient controls visitors.
I stared at it.
May you like
Five words.
How had something so basic become revolutionary?
