Chapter 5 - Julian Knew The Sex Before I Did
Julian asked to speak to me through the door.
I said no.
He asked Claire.
She said that wasn't her decision.
He asked my father.
Dad said something that got security involved.
Eventually Julian sent one message through the hospital's patient liaison:
I need to explain why I thought she was a boy.
I stared at it.
Claire was holding my daughter while I ate half a sandwich.
“Do you want him in?”
“No.”
“Then don't.”
“What if I need the answer?”
Claire looked at me.
“You can get an answer without giving him the room.”
That sentence stayed with me.
I asked security to bring Julian to the small family consultation room across the hall.
Glass in the door.
Hospital staff nearby.
Dad wanted to come.
I told him no too.
His face tightened.
Then he nodded.
That was harder for him than fighting.
I sat across from Julian.
His cheek had darkened where Dad hit him.
He looked terrible.
I felt nothing useful about that.
“Why did you think we were having a boy?”
He looked at his hands.
“My father told me.”
“When?”
“Two months ago.”
“And you believed him.”
“Yes.”
“Based on?”
“He said he had seen a prenatal lab result.”
My stomach turned.
“What lab?”
Julian named the screening company.
I had used it.
The test could reveal fetal sex.
I had checked the box requesting not to be told.
“Did you access my result?”
“No.”
“Did Victor?”
“I don't know.”
“That's a lie.”
Julian looked up.
“I didn't watch him.”
“Did he tell you how he knew?”
“He said the patient portal had been left open at our house.”
I stared.
I had logged in once from Victor's guest-office computer during a family dinner because my phone died.
Two months ago.
“Did he read it?”
“He said male.”
My throat tightened.
“What did you do?”
“Nothing.”
“You bought blue furniture.”
“That was Dad.”
“You rejected every girl name I suggested.”
“I thought it didn't matter.”
“Because you already knew.”
“Yes.”
I felt sick.
“Did you tell him to create the second record?”
“No.”
“Did you know about it?”
“Yes.”
There.
“When?”
“Last week.”
“What did he tell you?”
“That the hospital could keep the baby under a private family listing until we finalized the birth announcement.”
“Why would we need that?”
“He said because of the company.”
Victor's development firm had recently been involved in a public lawsuit.
Reporters had called Julian twice.
Not enough to justify secret infant records.
“You believed that?”
“I didn't think it mattered.”
That sentence made me angrier than the elaborate lies.
“You keep using that.”
“What?”
“I didn't think it mattered.”
He looked away.
“The sex result didn't matter because it was a boy.”
“The second record didn't matter because Dad handled it.”
“Maya's duplicate record didn't matter because it only lasted three hours.”
Julian's jaw tightened.
“Don't bring Maya into this.”
“She’s already here.”
I tapped the table.
“Eleven years ahead of me.”
His face changed.
I continued.
“Did you remove our daughter's original bracelet?”
“No.”
“Were you beside the bassinet?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I saw two bands.”
I stopped.
“What?”
Julian looked at me.
“When Claire left, there were two bands on her ankle.”
My heartbeat changed.
“That isn't what Claire said.”
“She may not have seen it.”
“What did you do?”
“I took one off.”
“Which one?”
“I didn't know.”
“You removed an ID band from our newborn without telling a nurse.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Dad had told me there would be an extra one.”
My stomach dropped.
“So you assumed one was unnecessary.”
“Yes.”
“Where did you put it?”
“Linen bag.”
Marcus had found it there.
The real bracelet.
Julian had removed it himself.
“Why didn't you say that immediately?”
He stared at the glass door.
Because the story made him responsible.
Not for creating the second profile.
For making the mismatch physical.
“I panicked.”
I leaned back.
“No.”
He looked at me.
“You panicked when Marcus caught it.”
Julian said nothing.
Then I asked:
“What happened when Maya’s daughter was born?”
His face hardened.
“You already know.”
“No.”
“I know hospital paperwork.”
I looked directly at him.
“I want to know what you did.”
For the first time, Julian looked genuinely ashamed.
And before he could answer, the consultation-room door opened.
Marcus stood there.
“Sofia.”
“What?”
“The prenatal lab confirmed your fetal-sex result.”
My pulse changed.
Marcus looked at Julian.
“It said female.”
I stared at my husband.
Victor had not accidentally invaded my privacy.
May you like
He had lied about what he found.
For two months, he had been telling Julian he was getting a son that the medical record had never promised him.
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