But three weeks later, everything changed.
My mother stopped calling me.
Every time I went to visit her, Daniel insisted on staying in the same room.
And when I asked if he was okay, she would nervously look at him before answering.
One afternoon, I found them sitting together on the couch in the living room.
Daniel had an arm around his grandmother’s shoulders.
“Smile, Grandma,” she said as I picked up the phone to take a picture of them.
But my mother was not smiling.
Under the table, his trembling fingers squeezed my hand.
When Daniel went to the kitchen, she leaned towards me.
“Margaret, please… don’t leave me alone with him tonight.
I felt my stomach shrink.
“Mom, what did she do to you?”
He opened his mouth to answer.