I should have listened to my instincts then.
Instead, I persuaded myself that exhaustion and anxiety were making me paranoid.
I reminded myself that my mother had already raised two children while I had been a father for only several days.
That experience became a blindfold I refused to take off.
On the third night, Emily finally managed to hold the phone long enough to whisper my name clearly.
Her face filled the screen beneath dim bedroom lighting, and I instantly noticed sweat soaking her hair around her temples.
âWhatâs wrong?â I asked instantly.
Emily looked nervously toward the doorway before she could respond.
Then the phone abruptly moved, and my mother appeared instead.
She described Emily as emotional and dramatic, then criticized her for having difficulty after childbirth because, according to her, women from earlier generations managed motherhood without âturning the house upside down.â