"Daddy, Her Belly Comes Off"

CHAPTER 1 - THE WORDS THAT STOPPED THE ROOM

"Daddy, her belly comes off."

Ruby's small hand closed around Daniel's wrist just before his fingers touched the curve beneath Vanessa's green dress.

Vanessa's face changed first.

Her smile vanished. One hand pressed hard against her belly.

"Stop making things up!" she snapped.

Ruby shrank back at once and moved closer to Daniel, still holding his hand. She was six, all thin shoulders and cream-colored cardigan, her two braids trembling as she looked up at him.

Daniel raised his free hand toward Vanessa without looking at her.

"Wait."

Then he bent down to Ruby's height. His voice softened, though something cold had already begun to move through him.

"What did you see?"

Ruby swallowed. She pointed toward the back hallway.

"I saw her take it off last night."

Daniel turned slowly.

Vanessa would not meet his eyes.

The silence in the room was no longer polite. It was alive.

Then Vanessa stepped toward Ruby, fast and sharp, her right hand lifting high.

"Shut up!"

Ruby flinched and squeezed her eyes closed.

Daniel moved before he thought. He caught Vanessa's wrist in midair and pulled Ruby behind him. His daughter clutched the back of his blue shirt.

"Don't you dare lay a finger on my daughter."

Vanessa stared at him, breathing hard. Her anger seemed to crack apart in a second, revealing something else underneath.

Fear.

Her gaze slid past Daniel's shoulder to Ruby's face. Then she looked down at the hand he still had on her wrist.

Finally, in a voice Daniel had never heard from her before, she whispered, "Please. Not here."

And from the kitchen doorway, Daniel's older sister Angela said, "Then maybe you should tell him who the baby is really for."