Chapter 3
Two weeks passed.
Aiden walked on eggshells. He didn't laugh. He didn't run. He kept his hands clasped tight and his eyes on the floor.
Karen forbade him from making noise. She forbade him from playing in the living room. She told him he was "too rough for the baby."
One afternoon, I found him sitting on the back porch, rain soaking his shirt.
"She said I had to stay outside," he whispered. "Because I might upset the baby."
I took him inside. Toweled him off. And then I walked straight to Karen.
"He is six years old," I said. "He is your son's brother. Not a threat."
Karen looked up from her magazine, cold and sharp.
"You need to learn your place, Olivia. This child growing inside me… he will be the man of this house one day. And he will decide what happens to you. To your brother. To everything."
May you like
She leaned closer.
"If you know what's good for you… you'll start being nice to me. Because once this baby is born… you and your little brother will be nothing."
