Her hair was flattened on one side, and her face went white the moment she saw me curled in the back seat.
I rolled the window halfway down.
“Dana? What are you doing here?”
“I’ve been texting Ryan all evening about the baby shower,” she said breathlessly. “He wasn’t answering. That isn’t like him. I didn’t want to disturb your rest, but by midnight I was imagining an accident. I couldn’t sleep knowing you’re this far along.”
Then her eyes moved over me, the pillow, the blanket, the cramped back seat.
“Emma… why on earth are you sleeping out here?”
That was when I broke.
I told her everything. The 3 a.m. fight. The keys tossed onto the bed. The comment about reclining seats. The nightly walks down three flights of stairs. The morning texts that let me return.
Dana went completely still.
“He said what?” she whispered.
I nodded, crying too hard to speak.
She looked up toward our dark third-floor window.
“Oh my God,” she said softly. “I can’t believe I raised a son like this.”
I held my pillow tighter.
“Stay here for a few minutes, sweetheart,” she said. “I need to go home quickly. I’ll be back.”
I did not understand, but I nodded.
Fifteen minutes later, Dana returned. She parked, opened the back of her SUV, and pulled out a long package wrapped in brown paper.
“What is that?” I asked.
“A parenting lesson,” she said. “Left over from our lake trip. Come with me. You don’t want to miss this.”
“Dana, it’s the middle of the night.”
“Exactly.”
She helped me out of the car, and my back cracked as I stood. Her face tightened in sympathy.
“Sweetheart,” she said quietly, “you should not be doing this. Not eight months pregnant. Not ever. Not even for one night.”
I looked down, ashamed.
We climbed the stairs together. Dana carried the package like a weapon. I held the railing with one hand and my belly with the other.
Halfway up, I whispered,
“He’s going to be furious.”
“Good.”
“He’ll blame me.”
Dana turned and looked me straight in the eye.
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