She lowered her head.
“Mom, I know it was wrong. I couldn’t stand carrying the child of someone who hurt me. Drinking and smoking made me feel like I still controlled my life. But I was only hurting myself and risking the baby’s health.”
Her voice broke.
“The more you called me a monster, the harder it became to ask you for help.”
Dr. Susan explained that Emily had recently begun receiving professional support to stop drinking and smoking and cope with
her trauma.
“We can’t undo the past,” she said, “but we can help her make safer choices now.”
I suddenly remembered every cruel word I’d spoken to my daughter.
I’d been so focused on the unborn baby that I’d forgotten how deeply Emily was suffering.
That night, she confessed something else.
She wasn’t sure she could raise the baby. She’d even discussed adoption with a counselor.
