PART 3
By 5:00 a.m. on Christmas morning, I had already been cooking for nearly 2 hours.
My mother-in-law, Judith Calloway, had invited 14 people to dinner—mostly my husband’s colleagues and their spouses.
Somehow, preparing all of it had become my responsibility.
Turkey.
Ham.
Stuffing.
Potatoes.
Vegetables.
Rolls.
Desserts.
At 28 weeks pregnant, my feet were swollen, my lower back ached, and every time I bent toward the oven, my stomach tightened.
My husband, Caleb, noticed.
He simply didn’t care enough to help.
“Mom likes Christmas done a certain way,” he told me.
That was his answer whenever Judith treated me badly.
Mom is traditional.
Mom means well.
Don’t take everything personally.
For 4 years, I had been swallowing those explanations.
Christmas finally made me choke on them.
By noon, Judith appeared downstairs wearing pearls and a dark green dress.
She looked flawless.
I was sweating through my maternity blouse.
She walked into the kitchen, tasted the potatoes, and frowned.
“More butter.”
“They already have plenty.”
“Then add more.”
“I’ve been standing since before sunrise.”
She glanced at my stomach.
“You’re pregnant, Mara. Not sick.”
Caleb heard her.
He said nothing.
By 6:00 p.m., dinner was ready.
I carried the last platter into the dining room and stopped.
There were 14 chairs.
There were 15 people in the house.
Including me.
I looked at Judith.
“Where am I sitting?”
She adjusted one of the wineglasses.
“We needed the extra chair for Mr. Lawson.”
“There’s another chair in the breakfast nook.”
“That ugly wooden thing?”
“I don’t care what it looks like. I need to sit down.”
Judith smiled tightly.
“Standing is good for circulation.”
“I’ve been standing all day.”
Caleb sighed.
“Mara, please don’t do this tonight.”
I stared at him.
“Do what?”
“Make everything difficult.”
“I’m asking for a chair.”
“You’ve been complaining all day.”
My stomach tightened sharply.
I grabbed the edge of the table.
Caleb frowned.
“See? Now everyone is staring.”
“I’m in pain.”
Judith rolled her eyes.
“Pregnant women have discomfort.”
“This feels different.”
I turned toward the kitchen.
There was a chair beside the breakfast table.
I had almost reached it when Judith followed me.
“Mara.”
I ignored her.
I put one hand on the chair.
Then I felt both of hers against my shoulders.
“Stop embarrassing us.”
She sho:ved me.
I stumbled backward.
My hip stru:ck the granite counter.
Then my lower abdomen hi:t the edge.
Pain tore through me.
I dropped to the floor.
For several seconds, I couldn’t breathe.
“My baby.”
Judith froze.
Caleb rushed into the kitchen.
He saw me sitting on the tile.
Then he looked toward the dining room.
“Mara, get up.”
I stared at him.
“I’m hurt.”
“You fell.”
“Your mother pushed me.”
Judith snapped, “I barely touched her.”
Then I felt warmth spreading against my dress.
I looked down.
Blo:od.
My heart began racing.
“Caleb.”
His eyes followed mine.
For the first time, he looked frightened.
“Call 911.”
Judith grabbed his arm.
“Think about how this is going to look.”
I couldn’t believe her.
“I’m ble:eding.”
Caleb ran both hands through his hair.
“Give it a minute.”
“A minute?”
“We don’t know that anything serious happened.”
“I’m 7 months pregnant and ble:eding.”
I reached for my phone on the counter.
Caleb grabbed it first.
“Give me my phone.”
“You’re panicking.”
“I need an ambulance.”
“Enough.”
“Give it back!”
I tried to take it.
He stepped away.
Then he threw the phone against the wall.
The screen shattered.
The dining room went silent.
I stared at the broken pieces.
Caleb’s face hardened.
“Enough. We are not turning this into a police scene.”
I could barely process what he had said.
“I need medical help.”
“You need to calm down.”
One of Caleb’s colleagues appeared in the doorway.
His name was Ronan Pierce.
He had worked with Caleb for 6 years.
“What happened?”
Caleb answered immediately.
“She slipped.”
“I didn’t slip.”
Judith said, “I reached for her when she lost her balance.”
Ronan looked at the blo:od on my dress.
“Someone needs to call an ambulance.”
Caleb’s jaw tightened.
“I have it under control.”
“You’re a commercial attorney, Caleb. You don’t have anything medical under control.”
Caleb crouched beside me.
His voice changed.
Smooth.
Quiet.
The same voice he used with clients when he wanted them to stop asking questions.
“Mara, listen to me.”
I looked at him.
“You fell. My mother tried to catch you. Everyone got scared. That is what happened.”
“No.”
His eyes narrowed.
“I know half the courthouse.”
I said nothing.
“I know judges. Prosecutors. The sheriff.”
“Good for you.”
“If you start accusing my mother of something she didn’t do, you’re only going to make yourself look unstable.”
That word.
Unstable.
He had used it before whenever I challenged him.
He leaned closer.
“I’m a lawyer, Mara. Who do you think they’re going to believe?”
That was when something inside me became very still.
Caleb believed I had no one.
He thought my father was an elderly former judge living quietly somewhere outside the city.
He had met him once at our small wedding.
My mother and father had divorced when I was young, and I had always used my mother’s surname, Bellamy.
My father’s public name was Chief Justice Arthur Wren.
I had never corrected Caleb’s assumptions.
I wanted one part of my life that did not depend on my father’s title.
I wanted to know whether Caleb loved me without knowing what my family name could do for his career.
Sitting on that kitchen floor, I finally had my answer.
“You’re right,” I said.
Caleb relaxed slightly.
“I know.”
“You’re the lawyer.”
“Yes.”
“And I apparently don’t understand how any of this works.”
His mouth curled into a small smile.
“That’s not what I said.”
“Call my father.”
His smile widened.
“Your father?”
“Yes.”
“What is he going to do?”
“Call him.”
Judith laughed.
Caleb unlocked his own phone.
“Fine. Give me the number.”
I did.
He put the call on speaker.
Of course he did.
He wanted everyone to hear him prove that my father was nobody important.
The phone rang twice.
Then a calm voice answered.
“Wren speaking.”
Caleb’s face changed.
Just slightly.
He recognized the voice.
Any attorney in our state who followed appellate courts would.
My father spoke again.
“Who is this?”
Caleb swallowed.
“Caleb Calloway.”
There was a pause.
“And why are you calling me?”
“My wife asked me to.”
“Your wife?”
“Yes.”
“What is your wife’s name?”
Caleb looked at me.
“Mara Bellamy Calloway.”
Silence.
Then my father said,
“Put my daughter on the phone.”
No one moved.
Caleb stared at the screen.
Then at me.
“What?”
I held out my hand.
“The phone.”
“Arthur Wren is your father?”
“Yes.”
“The Chief Justice?”
“Yes.”
Judith went pale.
Caleb looked almost offended.
“You lied to me.”
“No. I kept my family private.”
“Why?”
“Because I wanted to know who you were when you thought my family had nothing useful to offer you.”
His face tightened.
My father’s voice came through again.
“Mara?”
Caleb finally gave me the phone.
“Dad.”
My father’s entire tone changed.
“Are you hurt?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“I was pushed into the counter.”
Silence.
“Where did you hi:t?”
“My stomach.”
“Are you ble:eding?”
“Yes.”
“Is an ambulance coming?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“My phone was destroyed.”
“By whom?”
I looked at Caleb.
“My husband.”
Caleb immediately said, “It was an accident.”
Ronan spoke from the doorway.
“No, it wasn’t.”
Everyone turned toward him.
He had his phone in his hand.
“I already called 911.”
Judith moved toward him.
“You had no right!”
Ronan stepped back.
“She’s pregnant and ble:eding. I don’t need your permission.”
My father said,
“Good.”
Then he spoke to me.
“Mara, stay focused on the baby. I’m coming.”
“Dad.”
“Yes?”
“Don’t use your office.”
He understood immediately.
“I won’t.”
“Promise.”
“I promise.”
That mattered to me.
