I could speak rationally.”
“No hitting,” I said.
“That’s not what I asked.”
Tears filled my eyes.
“I know.”
By noon, Evelyn had enough information to begin protective legal steps.
I’d slept only forty minutes.
Both babies’ fevers were still decreasing.
That felt like the only Christmas miracle I trusted.
At 12:17, Cole called my parents’ house.
Dad checked the caller ID.
“What do you want me to do?”
A year earlier, he’d have answered automatically.
Now he let me choose.
“Put it on speaker.”
Mother sat beside me.
