Car Crash Neglect Christmas Divorce novel · Chapter 23 of 24

Chapter 23: Easter

Maddy's first Easter began with a bunny hat that she tried to eat.

Zelda had knitted it in the teachers' lounge, in secret, and had gotten one ear shorter than the other.

"It's artisanal," she said, tying it under Maddy's chin.

"It's lopsided."

"That is what artisanal means."

We had moved into the brick house on Alder Street in March.

It had a yellow kitchen and a crooked porch and a backyard with one big maple, and I had bought it with my own name on the deed.

The second bedroom was the nursery.

Doran had painted it on a Saturday, the soft yellow I'd picked in December and never got to use.

I had stood in the doorway and watched him do the last wall, with paint on his forearms.

I hadn't said anything, because I couldn't.

He had known, and he'd set the roller down and held me until I could.

Now the whole house smelled like ham.

Doran's sister had come, a small cheerful woman with a NICU badge still clipped to her sweater, and she held Maddy out at arm's length to look at her.

"Ten pounds, one ounce," she told me. "Look at those thighs."

"She's an athlete."

"She's a bruiser."

"She's mine," said Doran, and then looked startled.

"Mine and Claire's," he said, correcting himself.

I decided not to mention it.

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