Chapter 8 - The Night Lily Was Born
I had forgotten most of that night.
Or maybe I had forced myself to.
Lily had been born during one of the hardest periods of my military career.
I had spent months preparing for deployment.
Then, unexpectedly, my assignment changed.
I was given a short window to come home.
I still remembered David holding my hand in the delivery room.
I remembered the fluorescent lights.
The nurses.
Lily's first cry.
And my father standing outside the room.
He had been there.
He had insisted on waiting.
At the time, I thought it was love.
Now I wondered what he had been doing there.
Hannah pulled the hospital records.
There was something strange.
My father had signed as an emergency contact.
But more disturbing was a visitor log.
He had entered the maternity ward six minutes after Lily was born.
He remained there for twenty-three minutes.
Then he left.
No one else from my family entered the room.
Not even my mother.
"Why did he come in?"
Hannah shook her head.
"We don't know."
I looked at David.
"Do you remember him coming in?"
David frowned.
"I was exhausted."
"I remember you going to get coffee."
He stared at me.
"That's right."
"You weren't there."
"No."
I read the visitor log again.
My father had entered the room while Lily and I were alone.
I called him.
He didn't answer.
I called again.
Nothing.
Then Miranda called.
I picked up.
"What do you want?"
"You can't keep doing this."
"Doing what?"
"Investigating us."
"I'm investigating my money."
"It's family money."
"No."
"It's all connected."
"Then tell me what happened."
She stopped breathing.
"I don't know."
"You're lying."
"I'm not."
"You tried to become the beneficiary of Lily's insurance."
Silence.
"I didn't."
"Your name is on the request."
"I never signed it."
I almost laughed.
"Neither did I."
That made her quiet.
"What are you talking about?"
"You know exactly what I'm talking about."
"I don't."
"Then explain Northstar."
She hung up.
That was answer enough.
The following morning, we found the address of Northstar Family Services.
It wasn't an office.
It was a storage unit.
Inside were old tax records, legal forms, canceled checks, copies of identification documents.
And boxes.
Dozens of them.
One had my name.
Another had Miranda's.
Another had Lily's.
I opened Lily's box.
Inside was a hospital bracelet.
Birth certificate copy.
Insurance papers.
A photograph.
And an envelope.
The envelope was addressed to my father.
I opened it.
There was one page.
From my grandfather.
Robert,
You have mistaken my silence for forgiveness.
I know what happened in the hospital.
I know what you attempted to do.
If you touch Emily's child again, I will make sure the entire family learns the truth.
My hands trembled.
"What did he attempt to do?"
David looked at the page.
"We need to know."
At the bottom of the letter was a final sentence.
The child is safe only because Emily does not know.
I felt sick.
What could my father possibly have attempted to do?
Change Lily's records?
Move the insurance?
Take custody?
Then we found another box.
It contained a legal petition.
My father's name was listed as petitioner.
The filing date was three days after Lily's birth.
The document requested temporary guardianship of a minor child.
My daughter's name was handwritten across the top.
Lily Bennett.
I stared at the petition.
David whispered:
"Why would your father try to take custody of Lily?"
Before I could answer, a voice came from behind us.
"You weren't supposed to find that."
I turned.
Miranda stood in the doorway.
She looked exhausted.
Afraid.
And for the first time in my life, my sister looked genuinely terrified.
"Who told you to take Lily?"
She lowered her eyes.
"Mom."
"Why?"
Miranda started crying.
"Because Dad said something terrible had happened."
"What?"
"He said Lily wasn't safe with you."
My heart stopped.
"Why?"
Miranda wiped her face.
"Because he told me you weren't really her mother."
I stared at her.
"What?"
May you like
Miranda whispered:
"He told us Lily was never supposed to exist."
