Chapter 2

The next morning, the pregnancy logistics chat lit up with a photo of the half-glass of milk I hadn't finished the night before.

Mrs. Acevedo replied:

"She's got a temper. Don't indulge her. The baby comes first."

Dylan peeled an egg and set it in my bowl.

"Eat."

I didn't move.

He looked up.

"Sulking over a group chat again?"

"Can you stop lecturing me all the time?"

"Stop making trouble and I won't have to remind you."

Mrs. Acevedo came in.

"Hazel's welcome dinner is tonight. You'll go with Dylan."

I gripped my cup.

"I'm not going."

Dylan set down his coffee.

"You have to go."

"So I can prove there's nothing between you and her?"

"People are talking. Just show your face, then it's over."

I said I couldn't stand the smell of alcohol.

He only said, "Sit for a while. Do it for me."

"And what about me being humiliated?"

He looked at me.

"You're Mrs. Delgado. Everyone out there will only praise you for being sensible."

That night, the old Delgado house.

Dylan opened the car door for me and shielded the roof with his hand.

I'd barely gotten my footing when Hazel came running out.

"Dylan."

The hand steadying me let go at once, and he draped his coat over her shoulders.

"Why did you come out here?"

"It's cold outside."

At the table, Hazel sat on his right, and I sat on his left.

Mrs. Acevedo took out a red velvet box.

Inside was my jade bracelet.

She'd said my hands were swollen from the pregnancy and she'd keep it for me. So it turned out she'd meant to give it away all along.

"It wasn't easy for Hazel to come back this time. Take this, it'll settle your nerves."

Mrs. Acevedo looked at me.

"Peggy won't mind, will you?"

I pressed a hand to my belly. "I mind."

Tears slid down Hazel's face.

Dylan set down his chopsticks.

"It's just a bracelet. Do you have to ruin the mood?"

"Then have her give it back to me."

He didn't move.

Mrs. Acevedo pushed the bracelet into my hand.

"You put it on her yourself, and all that talk out there will die down on its own."

I looked at Dylan.

He said, "Just once. Don't make me look bad."

"I don't want to."

His voice went soft.

"Behave today, and tomorrow I'll go with you to the checkup."

He'd finally said he'd go with me. And it was so I'd put the bracelet on Hazel.

He leaned in a little more.

"I already promised I'd go to the checkup with you. Don't leave me with no way to save face."

In the end, I put it on Hazel.

Hazel pulled her hand back a little.

"Peggy, I'm afraid the baby will hide from me too, later on."

Dylan looked at me at once.

"She's pregnant. Don't provoke her with the baby."

"You too. Don't frighten her."

Then he lowered his voice.

"What you did just now. It looked pretty bad."

Hazel lifted her face and smiled.

"Then from now on, I'll really treat this place as home."

Dylan smiled.

"It always was."

The family chat pinged soon after.

Mrs. Acevedo had posted the video of me putting the bracelet on Hazel.

"Peggy said it herself. Hazel's family now."

Right after that, my own social media feed updated.

"Welcome home, Hazel."

"You posted that from my phone?"

"You went to the restroom just now. It wasn't locked."

"What gives you the right?"

"The right of you being my wife."

"One word from you counts for more than a hundred explanations from me."

Then he said it to everyone at the table.

"From now on, Hazel is the baby's godmother."

I stood up.

"I can't eat this dinner."

Dylan's face darkened.

"What will people think?"

"Whatever they think, isn't that all what you taught them?"

As I walked out the front door, I deleted the post.

But the screenshots and the video had already gotten out.

When Hazel chased after me, she was still clutching that jade bracelet.

"Peggy, don't be angry."

Her voice was very soft.

"If I'm the reason you and Dylan fought, I really don't know what to do."

I ignored her and turned to leave.

But she reached out and grabbed the strap of my bag.

I pulled back, and the bunny charm on my bag slid out from my scarf and swung once.

Hazel's gaze suddenly stopped.

It was the little charm Grandma Abbott had sewn for me, copied from an old bunny. I rarely brought it out.

She stared at it for two seconds, then said softly, "This little bunny of yours... it doesn't look like something you bought new."

My steps froze.

I'd never mentioned Grandma to her, never said a word about the bunny.

But she quickly lowered her head and gave a small laugh.

"It's nothing. I just thought it looked special."