Chương 7
“The avocado questioned chain of custody.”
Naomi laughed, then pressed a pillow against her abdomen because laughing still hurt.
The first baby to come home was Micah.
He arrived in a car seat that seemed too large for him, wearing a yellow cap Leon had bought despite the hospital’s warning that newborn sizing varied. The cap slid over one eyebrow.
Leon drove Naomi’s car at half the speed limit while people passed and stared.
“Traffic is moving,” Naomi said.
“So are we.”
“A bicycle passed us.”
“He was reckless.”
At the house, the alarm system asked for Daniel’s code before recognizing Naomi’s. She stood in the entryway with Micah’s carrier on the floor and listened to the familiar voice prompt repeat itself.
Leon reached for the control panel.
“Don’t break it.”
“I am not going to break it.”
“You’re holding a screwdriver.”
“I carry tools.”
“In your jacket?”
“I have pockets.”
Naomi entered her own code. The alarm stopped.
The house smelled faintly of wood polish and the lilies someone had left on the dining table. Daniel’s mail had been stacked neatly by the housekeeper. His running shoes were gone from the mudroom. The framed wedding photograph remained on the console near the stairs.
Naomi looked at it only long enough to register that neither person in the picture seemed embarrassed.
She carried Micah upstairs.
The nursery lights turned on automatically. Five cribs waited beneath the paper stars. The badly installed drawer beneath the changing table remained slightly open.
Leon put the diaper bag down.
“You want me to fix that?”
“No.”
“It’s crooked.”
“I know.”
“It’ll catch your foot at night.”
“Leave it.”
He watched her for a moment, then nodded.
Micah slept through his first hour at home. During the second, he cried because he was hungry. Then he cried because Naomi changed him. Then he cried because she stopped changing him. At three in the morning, he produced a sound so outraged that Leon entered the nursery carrying a baseball bat.
“Why do you have that?”
“I heard screaming.”
“He weighs five pounds.”
“I didn’t know who was screaming.”
Micah stopped immediately and stared at him.
Leon lowered the bat. “He has judgmental eyes.”
“He can’t focus beyond twelve inches.”
“Then he is judging locally.”
The quiet absurdity saved them.
Within two weeks, Amara and Nora came home. Eli followed three days later. Sophie remained in the hospital because she tired during feedings and needed more time.
Naomi lived by alarms. Feed, burp, change, record, wash, sterilize, sleep if possible. A private night nurse came through the hospital’s referral service, paid from Naomi’s savings because the Pierce family office had suspended payment for household support pending “clarification of financial responsibility.”
Leah called that action instructive.
Leon called it theft.
Naomi called the accountant who managed the joint household account and learned Daniel had directed that no new domestic expenses be approved without dual authorization. The existing mortgage and utilities remained paid. Everything else had to be reviewed.
“He cannot starve you into agreement,” Leah said.
“He isn’t starving me.”
“He is making five infants expensive on purpose.”
“They were already expensive.”
“That does not improve his position.”
Leah filed for temporary child support, medical expense allocation, and exclusive use of the house. Daniel responded with a request for temporary parenting time.
Naomi read the filing at the kitchen table while Nora slept against her shoulder.
Daniel described himself as a concerned father who had experienced an acute emotional reaction at the hospital, regretted his words, and now wished to establish a meaningful relationship with his children.
He requested two unsupervised visits each week.
The document did not mention Evelyn’s sentence.
It stated that Naomi had “unilaterally denied access.”
It emphasized the presence of paid caregivers and suggested that Daniel’s involvement would benefit the children.
Naomi’s hand tightened around the page.
Renee, seated across from her with a container of cold noodles, said, “He wants access after freezing the nurse’s payment.”
“He wants a photograph,” Naomi said.
“Maybe.”
“He wants to be seen holding them.”
“Probably.”
“But he may also want to hold them.”
Renee stopped eating.
Naomi looked toward the nursery monitor. Four small shapes shifted on separate screens. Amara stretched one arm free from her swaddle. Micah slept with his mouth open. Eli made a face that suggested he had tasted something unpleasant in a dream.
“I don’t know which possibility is worse,” Naomi said.
Renee put down her fork.
“Do you still love him?”
Naomi looked at her.
“That was intrusive,” Renee said.
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Yes.”
Renee waited.
Naomi traced the edge of Daniel’s filing with one finger. “I loved him eleven days before he left. I loved him when he walked into that room. I loved him for part of the time he was speaking.”
“That sounds awful.”
“It is.”
“Does he know?”
“No.”
“Good.”
Naomi almost smiled.
The temporary hearing took place by video because the babies’ pediatrician advised against unnecessary exposure. Naomi sat in the home office with Leah beside her. Behind them, the door remained closed, though crying passed through it twice.
Daniel appeared from a conference room at Kessler’s office. He wore a gray suit and no tie. He looked tired.
The judge asked practical questions.
Who was living in the marital home?
Who was paying medical expenses?
Had Daniel completed infant-care instruction?
Had he visited the neonatal unit since the testing appointment?
No.
Had Naomi prevented him from visiting the hospital after the results?
Naomi had maintained the visitor restriction based on the initial incident and had invited him, through counsel, to propose a supervised clinical visit.
Had he responded?
Kessler said the proposed conditions were unnecessarily restrictive.
The judge looked at Daniel. “Have you held any of the children?”
“No, Your Honor.”
“Have you fed a premature infant?”
“No.”
“Changed one?”
“No.”
“Completed CPR training?”
May you like
Daniel’s jaw tightened. “Not yet.”
The judge granted temporary support, ordered both parties to share uncovered medical expenses in proportion to income, and allowed Daniel two weekly supervised visits after completing hospital-approved infant-care training. Evelyn was excluded until further order because she was not a parent and had made no separate request.
