I stared at my wife. She wouldn’t look at me.
***
It got worse after we brought Sophie home.
Jamie came every Sunday. Claire met him at the door with hand sanitizer.
“Hands.”
“I washed already.”
“Wash again. For Sophie.”
He washed again.
It got worse after we brought Sophie home.
One Sunday he offered, “I can feed her.”
Claire laughed. Actually laughed.
“I already have one baby to watch. I’m not supervising you, too.”
Jamie’s face went blank.
“Okay,” he said. He went to the hall for his coat.
I pulled Claire into the kitchen.
“I already have one baby to watch.”
“That was cruel. Don’t ever talk to him like that again.”
“I’m protecting my daughter.”
“From her uncle?”
She turned to face me.
“You weren’t the one he poured boiling water on.”
The kitchen went quiet.
“I’m protecting my daughter.”
