“This isn’t the child we wanted.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
Claire looked away.
“We were promised something else.”
Evan nodded.
“There has been a mistake, Marianne. A very serious mistake.”
I stared at them.
“Would one of you please explain what is going on?”
Claire ran a hand through her hair.
“We were promised a boy.”
Evan swallowed.
“We needed a boy.”
The baby stirred against my chest.
I looked down at her.
She had done absolutely nothing wrong.
She was healthy.
She was beautiful.
She was innocent.
And these two people who had spent two years begging me to carry a child for them were standing in front of me as though someone had handed them the wrong package.
“We don’t want this child,” Claire said.
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
“What?”
“We don’t want her.”
Evan looked toward the door.
“There has been a mistake at the clinic.”
Claire began pacing.
“We’ll sue them. They assured us it would be a boy.”
Then she pointed toward the baby in my arms.
“That child is their fault.”
That’s when something inside me snapped.
“Mistake?”
My voice became louder.
“Listen to me. I don’t know what’s going on here, but I’m done listening to you talk about this baby like she was some defective product.”
“You don’t understand—”
“No.”
I shook my head.
