Chương 7
“You should have told me.”
“You were asleep.”
“You should have woken me.”
Rebecca’s expression changed. “Catherine, I am not Michael.”
The words were sharp enough to clear the room.
Sophie began to cry.
Rebecca looked down and immediately regretted her tone. Catherine saw it, but the apology did not come. Instead Rebecca placed the baby in her arms.
“I wrote down how much she ate,” she said. “It’s on the counter.”
Catherine held Sophie too tightly at first. The baby’s crying grew louder.
“Loosen your arm,” Rebecca said.
“I know how to hold her.”
“You’re squeezing.”
Catherine loosened her grip. Shame rose hot beneath her skin.
Rebecca went to the kitchen and returned with her coat.
“Where are you going?”
“Home for a few hours.”
“You said you’d stay.”
“I have not seen my own children since yesterday.”
“I didn’t ask you to abandon them.”
“No. You just started treating me like staff.”
The accusation landed cleanly because it was true.
Catherine sat down. “I’m sorry.”
Rebecca’s shoulders remained rigid.
“I am,” Catherine said. “I woke up afraid, and I made it your fault.”
Rebecca looked at Sophie, then at the windows. “David used to do that.”
“Do what?”
“Wake from a nightmare and get angry at me for not being awake with him.”
Catherine had never known.
Rebecca pulled on her coat. “Grief makes people selfish. Fear does too. That doesn’t mean everyone else has to stand there and take it.”
After she left, Catherine sat alone in the nursery while afternoon light moved across the rug. Sophie made a small snoring sound. Catherine listened to it until her breathing matched.
The emergency hearing occurred by video the next morning.
Catherine wore a navy blouse over compression garments and sat at the dining table with Priya. Michael appeared from a conference room at his attorney’s office. His hair was neatly combed. He looked rested enough to seem guilty of it.
The judge asked practical questions. Had Michael ever harmed the child? No. Had Catherine denied all contact? No. Had a hospital confrontation occurred? Yes. Were criminal charges filed? No. Was there an active protective order? No.
Michael’s attorney described Catherine as understandably emotional after childbirth but said her judgment had become punitive. Priya objected to the characterization. The judge told both attorneys to avoid medical conclusions unsupported by evidence.
Catherine watched Michael’s face as the hospital report was discussed. He looked down when Daniel’s statement was read.
Mr. Harrison moved rapidly toward Ms. Harrison while she held the newborn. I intercepted his arm because his path crossed directly above the infant.
The judge ordered short supervised visits for the next two weeks, not as a finding of danger but as a temporary measure while both parents stabilized arrangements. Neither parent could remove Sophie from Cook County without written agreement. Medical information would be shared through the hospital portal. Public statements concerning the child were discouraged.
It was neither victory nor defeat.
Michael waited until the attorneys finished before speaking.
“Your Honor, may I say something?”
His attorney touched his arm, but the judge allowed it.
“I love my daughter,” Michael said. “Whatever happened between my wife and me, I was not trying to hurt anyone.”
Catherine felt every word as an attempt to relocate the problem.
The judge looked at him for a long moment. “Most family harm does not begin with a person announcing an intention to cause it. Control your behavior, Mr. Harrison.”
Michael’s face reddened.
After the hearing ended, Priya closed her laptop.
“You were very quiet,” she said.
“I was told not to appear unstable.”
“You were told not to interrupt a judge.”
“Same effect.”
Priya gathered her papers. “Do not confuse restraint with disappearance.”
The first supervised visit took place at the penthouse because Sophie was too young to travel unnecessarily.
A parenting coordinator named Helen Ward arrived ten minutes early with a notebook and a soft-sided bag. She was warm without being friendly. She inspected the living room, asked where diapers were kept, and reminded Catherine that the purpose of supervision was observation, not punishment.
Michael arrived carrying a stuffed elephant too large for the baby.
He stood inside the doorway uncertainly.
“Shoes off,” Catherine said.
His gaze flicked to Helen. “Of course.”
He removed them and placed them beside the bench where he had left them every night for eight years.
For the first twenty minutes, he held Sophie incorrectly. Catherine corrected him twice, then Helen asked her to leave the room.
“I live here,” Catherine said.
“And his visit requires space.”
“I’m nursing.”
“We will call you when she needs to feed.”
Michael’s mouth tightened, as though he had won something he did not enjoy winning.
Catherine went into the kitchen and stood close enough to hear every sound.
Michael spoke to Sophie in a low, awkward voice. He told her the Bulls needed a better bench. He described the snow forecast. He said her mother hated when people discussed sports with infants because it was lazy.
Catherine pressed both hands against the counter.
Helen asked him to support the baby’s head. He apologized. Sophie began to fuss, and Michael’s voice changed. The confidence vanished.
“What does she need?”
“Try walking with her,” Helen said.
Michael paced the living room slowly. “Hey. Hey, Sophie. It’s all right.”
The baby cried harder.
Catherine stepped into the doorway.
Helen raised one hand. “Give him a moment.”
Michael looked at Catherine, panic visible in his face.
It would have been easy to let him fail.
Instead she said, “She likes pressure between her shoulders. Not patting. Hold your palm still.”
Michael adjusted his hand.
Sophie’s crying softened.
Relief crossed his face, followed by gratitude he did not speak. Catherine returned to the kitchen before either of them could pretend the moment meant more than it did.
May you like
After the visit, Michael lingered near the door.
Helen had gone downstairs to complete paperwork in the lobby. Priya’s associate waited in the study, but for thirty seconds Catherine and Michael were almost alone.
