Chapter 18 - THE VIOLATION
For one second, my body forgot how to move.
Lauren stood.
"Sarah."
I backed toward the elevator.
"Stay away from us."
"I just want to see her."
"You're not allowed to contact us."
"This isn't contact. It's a doctor's office. I didn't know you'd be here."
Maybe that could have been true.
Then she reached into her purse.
I turned my body so Emma was behind my shoulder.
"Don't."
Lauren pulled out a pink gift bag.
"I bought her something."
She had known.
"How did you know we'd be here?"
Lauren's smile vanished.
"Mom told me."
"Mom doesn't know her appointment schedule."
A receptionist had already noticed the tension and picked up the phone.
Lauren stepped closer.
"I have rights too."
"No, you have a court order."
"She's my niece!"
Emma began to whimper.
That sound changed me.
Months earlier, I would have tried to calm everyone.
I would have lowered my voice so Lauren would not get angry.
I would have explained.
I did none of that.
"Back up," I said.
Lauren blinked.
"What?"
"Back up now."
She laughed. "You're acting tough because your soldier isn't here?"
"No. I'm acting like Emma's mother."
Two security officers entered from the hall.
Lauren's face collapsed.
"Sarah, don't do this."
"I'm not doing anything. You did."
Police arrived eleven minutes later.
The pink bag contained a stuffed rabbit, a birthday card and a photo of Lauren holding Emma when she was two weeks old.
The card said: Aunt Lauren will always find you.
The protective order violation was no longer arguable.
As an officer placed Lauren in handcuffs, she looked at me with tears streaming down her face.
"Why are you doing this to me?"
I looked at my daughter.
Then back at my sister.
"Because nobody ever stopped you before."
That night, Mom called.
Her first words were not about Lauren.
May you like
They were about my father.
"Sarah," she said, "he finally admitted why he protected her all those years."
