He Said Children Were a Mistake, So I Ran With His Baby novel · Chapter 12 of 24

Chapter 12: Who Is Katya

He didn't startle.

He had known I was there, and he kept looking at the hat.

"Katya," he said, and the word came out slowly. "My daughter."

I sat down on the arm of the leather chair across from him.

I did not touch him, and I did not say a word.

"She was born on the twelfth of December," he said. "Six years ago. Seven pounds, one ounce. She had a lot of black hair that stood straight up, and I thought she looked like a very angry old man."

His mouth moved, not quite into a smile.

"Margot and I were married. You know that. You don't know I was happy."

"I never asked," I said.

"I know. I didn't give you the chance." He turned the hat over in his hands. "She lived eleven weeks."

I sat very still.

"On the third of March I was in the next room on a call with Tokyo. It was a seven o'clock call and I'd put her down at six. The monitor was on the desk beside me, and I could hear her breathing. Every little catch of it."

His thumb moved along the brim.

"Around a quarter past seven the sound stopped. I thought it was the connection. I told Tokyo to hold on."

He stopped.

I put my hand over my mouth.

"The doctors said it was nobody's fault," he said. "They said it happens with healthy babies, in their sleep, with no warning. There's a name for it. I read every study in the world. I'm still not sure I believe them."

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