He Let Me Crash on Christmas Eve, So I Took Our Daughter novel · Chapter 5 of 24

Chapter 5: Say Her Name

Sixty people turned around in their chairs.

The conference room smelled like coffee and new carpet.

At the far end, under a screen showing a bar chart, Kendra's father stood with a hand on Nate's shoulder.

Nate saw me and went white.

Kendra sat in the front row with a folded program in her lap.

Her eyes went to the photo in my hand, and then to my face.

"Susannah," her father said. He kept the smile. "This is a private meeting, sweetheart."

"I know," I said. "I'm only going to ask your partner one question."

I walked down the side of the room.

Every step pulled the stitches, and I did not slow down.

At the head of the table I stopped, put Joy's photo flat on the wood, and turned it to face the room.

It showed her hand wrapped around my finger, with a thin clear tube taped across her wrist.

"This is my daughter," I said. "Her name is Joy. She was born on Christmas Eve at thirty-three weeks."

Nobody coughed.

"Nate," I said. "How much does she weigh?"

He stared at the picture.

His mouth moved, and nothing came out.

"Take your time," I said.

"Susannah, this isn't the place," Kendra's father said gently.

"It was the only place I could find him. His badge is on hold at the hospital because I put it there, and his boss's lawyers have been filing papers in his name."

A murmur went around the room.

"What papers?" someone asked from the middle.

I took the petition out of my coat and set it next to the photo.

"This one," I said. "It says I abandoned my home and kept a father from his child. Nate signed a page on the twenty-sixth and was told it was for insurance."

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