Chapter 9 - RUBY’S FIRST BIRTHDAY
The legal process took months.
Different allegations moved through different channels.
Assault.
Document fraud.
The attempted unauthorized removal of a child.
The specific consequences depended on the evidence and legal findings, not on what our family wanted.
I stopped following every development.
I had my own recovery.
My collarbone was badly bruised but not fractured.
The cut beneath my eye healed into a thin pale line.
For months, touching that spot made me remember Melissa’s hand in my hair.
Therapy helped.
So did distance.
Ruby turned one on a Sunday.
Small party.
No Judith.
No Melissa.
Anna made cupcakes.
Nathan burned hamburgers.
I bought Ruby a stuffed giraffe so enormous it was completely impractical.
Anna laughed.
“She’s smaller than the present.”
“That’s the point.”
Ruby pulled herself upright against the couch.
Then collapsed onto her diaper and looked offended.
Nathan laughed.
The sound surprised me.
A year earlier, that nursery had been full of police.
Now their house sounded like a home again.
Not the same one.
May you like
Better.
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