My mother-in-law offered to take my newborn for a walk so I could finally sleep. Two hours later, I woke up and noticed something on my baby’s ears.
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I did not yell at Sandra.
That surprised her more than yelling would have.
She kept watching me from the kitchen while I sat at the table with Ivy in my arms, waiting for the pediatrician’s office to call me back.
Sandra finally said, “Melissa, you’re acting like I hurt her.”
I looked at my six-week-old daughter.
Her ears were red around the tiny gold studs.
“Someone put needles through her ears today.”
Sandra sighed.
“It’s an ear piercing, not surgery.”
“I know what it is.”
“Millions of baby girls have their ears pierced.”
“Okay.”
She frowned.
“Okay?”
“Yes.”
I wasn’t calm because I wasn’t angry.
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I was so angry that calm was the only safe setting I had left.
My husband, Daniel, came into the kitchen holding his phone.
He’d been trying to figure out where Sandra had taken Ivy.
“Mom, what was the name of the place?”
Sandra looked annoyed.
“Why?”
“Because I asked.”
“It’s in the mall.”
“Which one?”
“The jewelry place near the department store.”
Daniel stared at her.
“The kiosk?”
“It’s not a kiosk.”
“It is absolutely a kiosk.”
She rolled her eyes.
“They’ve been piercing ears for years.”
Daniel’s voice hardened.