Later that morning, Nia called her mother.
When she explained what the doctors had found, her mother remained silent for a long time.
Then she finally told Nia why seeing her stomach had frightened her so badly.
Years earlier, Nia’s grandmother had experienced almost the same physical changes during pregnancy. No one had known what caused them. There had been no clear diagnosis, and people around her had filled that lack of knowledge with rumors and frightening explanations.
She became embarrassed by her appearance and spent most of her final months of pregnancy hiding inside her home.
Then she gave birth to a healthy child.
Afterward, the unusual hair gradually decreased.
Nia’s mother had never forgotten it.
She had not recognized the medical condition when she looked at her daughter’s stomach.
