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12
Saturday after Thanksgiving, Durango, Colorado...
Milli and Camille were eating pretzels as they walked through the mall behind Willow and Gracie. The girls were taking turns pushing Emily’s stroller and sipping frappes. The 12-year-olds squealed happily and pushed the stroller into a store filled with plushies and candy. In moments, they were hovering over Emily who just yawned as they waved colorful stuffed toys at her.
“She looked at this one.”
“No, she didn’t, she looked at mine.”
“She likes the red and orange one.”
“No. The blue and light blue.”
“She likes the firefish, Gracie!”
“She likes the dolphin, Willow.”
They were getting louder and louder, and Emily had scrunched up her face.
“Girls! Babies at that age don’t see colors well, it’s about contrasting colors, find something black and white,” Camille scolded. Shaking her head as they stalked off mumbling about penguins an
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Milli sat in her car, snowflakes swirled against the glass as she waited for the light to turn green. She watched them dancing, carefree like the fireflies of the summer, and couldn’t stop the tears from running down her cheeks. The only reason her hands weren’t shaking because she was gripping the steering wheel so tightly it turned her knuckles white. She was trying to keep it together until she got home from her obstetrician appointment. The doctor had come all the way back on a Monday to see another high-risk patient and to give Milli some devastating news rather than wait for her appointment on Thursday. * * * Last Thursday... The nurse took all her vitals and had her put a half-gown over her breasts and baby bump. A cart with a portable ultrasound was wheeled in. The obstetrician, an older man with thinning hair and jovial voice, asked Milli a myriad of questions, then if she had any concerns before th
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Elizabeth struggled to rise so Lloyd helped her as Milli carried a crying Emily and the carrier toward them. “The doctor said we will know next Thursday if Emily got it from Edgar too. The genetic testing takes three days.” The doctor had followed Milli out, “Ms. Haywood, we really need to talk about your procedure.” “Dr. Barrows, I’m not having an abortion! I’m Catholic!” Milli snarled at him. “But you could die if you get sepsis, he isn’t really alive.” The doctor argued. “You have to consider your health for Emily’s sake. You don’t need to worry; she won’t have this.” Milli snarled at the doctor's suggestion, “You get Emily’s DNA sorted, and then I’ll worry about myself. I will see you Thursday. I’m ready to go.” Milli huffed at Lloyd and Elizabeth. “Fine, Ms. Haywood but if you have any cramping at all, fever, nausea, feeling faint, you call 9-1-1 and come straight in.” The doctor looked seriously at Lloyd and Elizabeth. “Keep an eye on he
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As Milli iced the gingerbread cookies Aunt Elizabeth had volun-told her to make, she struggled with the pain. It had only been a little over a month since her world went to heck in a cake box. She had spent two days decorating gingerbread cookies. Camille had asked for help from the Women’s Auxiliary since the diving coach wasn’t much of a baker and the dive team needed a fundraiser for the Winter Carnival and were assigned the cakewalk and bake sale booths. Every cookie brought back a memory of home Milli didn’t want to remember, and she ruined half of what she baked before she found her groove. She decorated the traditional cookies with red, blue, or green scarves and hats, then added white dots or stripes or zigzags. It had been an exercise in frustration at first, but Milli knew she needed the cookies to succeed if she wanted to build her reputation before her bakery opened someday. A hard knock on the door had her peeking at a sleeping Emily as she passed. A pretty blon
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Milli carefully arranged the iced shortbread cookies the Church Ladies’ Auxiliary had ordered for the evening service on several large trays. She had made almost two hundred more than needed to make sure the twelve hundred she brought tonight were perfect. Mrs. Wallace and Mrs. McConnell had oohed and awwed over the blue and white iced stars. Each cookie covered in two colors of flares, swirls, dots, and loops; this filigree work had taken a long time. The six-pointed stars looked more like abstract snowflakes or quilted ornaments than cookies. They were art, her art, but they were also an offering, each made with a prayer for her son while she ignored the inevitable. Truthfully, Milli was grateful for the work to keep her mind off the fact that Charlie’s monitor was now beeping more and more frequently. Any time his heartbeat became erratic, it beeped. Milli knew what was coming, and refused to admit it, or her fears. She may hate Edgar, but she wanted Charlie to live. The
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At 12:05 AM on December 26th, the doctor cut a thin line across Milli’s stomach. The nurse cleaned and wrapped Charlie quickly before placing him on Milli’s chest. Milli didn’t feel the rest of the procedure, she only remembered the priest blessing her child before giving him last rites. She remembered Jackson saying, “Charlie is the most beautiful baby I have ever seen.” As he took pictures of Milli holding her baby. Milli ran her fingers over Charlie’s tiny perfect face in the quiet room, marveling at how much he looked like a mixture of Edgar and herself. “He looks like both of us.” Her baby never cried, never took a breath, but he would live in her heart forever. Dorine helped Aunt Elizabeth come in. She said softly, “He’s so handsome.” Aunt Elizabeth nodded in agreement, “I’m certain he will give Marni nothing but trouble in the afterlife. Look at that bit of mischief in his smile, oh yes, he’s an ornery one, a little troll just like you.”
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Jean Lasater stood tall and proud in her shimmery red dress. “This gentleman is going to make sure that you and your family pay for the suffering you have caused.”The man in the gray suit introduced himself and announced, “Colleen Rowling, I am Special Agent Whitman with the Texas State Attorney General’s Office and you are under arrest for murder, attempted murder, extortion, embezzlement, fraud, tax evasion, stock manipulation, and… oh hell... we’ll be standing here for an hour if I have to name all of the charges. You have the right to remain silent...” He rattled off her Miranda rights.Heith and Chloe rushed to the stage as their family, friends and business partners backed away.“What is going on here?” Heith demanded.“Jean, why are you doing this? Mom’s your best friend,” Chloe gasped in shock.“Heith, you deserve this after what happened to Marni and Milli Hayw
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