For illustrative purposes only
Part 5 — Why Ben Had Become Her Guard
According to Ben, Diane had been coming into the nursery during the night.
Brenda would be asleep.
Diane would pick her up.
She would unwrap her.
Turn on the bright lamp.
Touch her feet.
Stroke her cheeks.
Anything to wake her.
And if Brenda began drifting back to sleep, Diane would continue disturbing her until she cried.
Then she would carry Brenda into our bedroom.
“She says Brenda woke up by herself,” Ben whispered.
My heart dropped.
Suddenly, several nights came rushing back to me.
Three nights earlier, Diane had entered our bedroom around three in the morning with Brenda crying in her arms.
“She’s unsettled again,” she’d said.
There had been another night before that.
And another.
At the time, I’d thought Brenda was simply having difficult nights.
I looked at Ben.
“How many times has Grandma done this?”
