Devil in the Womb

"Natalie, congratulations! This one's for real—you're pregnant with your second. You've got both a son and a daughter now; there's no happier mother than you!"

A familiar voice buzzed in my ear. I flung my eyes open and saw my best friend, Ashley Lemmon, holding the ultrasound printout. Only then did I finally believe I had truly been reborn.

When my husband, Sean Newman, learned the second child would be a boy, he beamed. Our daughter, Julie Newman, who was about to graduate from university, and Sean argued over who would name the baby.

But in the next instant, the baby inside me spoke—clear as a bell, "Stupid sister, I don't want you to name me! Mom said once you graduate, she'll sell you off, so she can use that money for my future wedding!"

My daughter's face drained of color.

It had happened this way in my last life too. The moment she heard the baby's voice, my daughter's smile vanished. Bright and outgoing, she shut down and stopped being close to us.

I thought at first it was stress from her thesis, but the day she graduated, she applied to study abroad—and we never heard from her again. Two months later she called to sever ties.

"Mom, this is the last time I'll call you 'Mom.' I'm never coming home. I'll get married and have children overseas. Just pretend I was never your daughter."

I never expected her to say such things. I wept until it felt like my insides were being torn out.

Now, watching the disappointment in her eyes, I grabbed Julie's hand without thinking. "Julie, I'm not keeping this baby," I blurted. "Don't worry, you'll always be my precious daughter."

She froze.

Ashley freaked out beside us. "Natalie, are you out of your mind? You're fine. Why would you abort this baby?"

Sean looked puzzled. "Yeah, what's wrong, honey? Weren't you the one who wanted both a son and a daughter? We can afford another child. Why would you want to end it?"

Seeing his confused face made me sure he hadn't heard the baby's voice. It seemed the child could choose who could hear him. To prevent the tragedy that had destroyed my last life, I had to get rid of him.

"Honey, you have to trust me this time. We must terminate this pregnancy."

No sooner had the words left my mouth than the child kicked sharply, and his voice rushed into my head in outrage, "Mommy! How can you be so cruel? Just because you're afraid Dad will find out I'm not his biological son, you want to abort me to hide your cheating?!"