Chapter 9 - THE NIGHT THEIR DAUGHTER ARRIVED
Elena went into labor during a thunderstorm.
Daniel panicked.
The woman who had remained calm while being shoved near a staircase had to tell her husband how to breathe.
“Daniel.”
“I am breathing.”
“You're hyperventilating.”
“I know.”
“Then stop.”
“I don't know how.”
Margaret drove.
That decision nearly killed everyone from stress alone.
At the hospital, labor lasted fourteen hours.
Then their daughter arrived.
Sofia Grace Howard.
Seven pounds, three ounces.
Healthy.
Loud.
Furious.
Perfect.
When the nurse placed Sofia against Elena's chest, everything became quiet.
Daniel sat beside her.
He touched one tiny foot.
Then cried.
Elena looked at him.
“You're doing that a lot lately.”
“I've had a difficult year.”
She laughed.
For the first time since the staircase, laughter didn't feel borrowed.
---
Later that night, Daniel asked:
“Do you forgive me?”
Elena looked at their daughter.
“I've been forgiving you for months.”
He seemed surprised.
“That doesn't mean I forgot.”
“I don't want you to.”
“And it doesn't mean we're finished repairing things.”
“I know.”
She reached for his hand.
“But I want to keep repairing them.”
Daniel kissed her fingers.
That was enough.
---
Margaret entered carrying Arthur's old silver baby rattle.
“He bought this when Daniel was born.”
Daniel groaned.
“You kept that?”
“Of course.”
Sofia immediately began crying when Margaret shook it.
Elena laughed.
“She hates family tradition.”
“Smart girl,” Daniel said.
Margaret slapped his shoulder.
For the first time, the Howard family felt ordinary.
No estate strategy.
No hidden cameras.
No inheritance.
May you like
Just an exhausted mother, an overwhelmed father, a grandmother and a newborn who wanted everyone to stop talking.
Elena preferred it that way.
