Page 43 of Anatomy of Us

I stay down, listening through the monitor, and I can't stop the grin that spreads across my face.

“Morning, champ,” Tessa tells the baby, her voice rough with sleep. “How'd you sleep? Better than us, for sure. Although I'll admit, we have a great time.”

Wesley babbles something that sounds like a complaint.

“I know, I know. The diaper. We fix that.” A pause. “Oh wow. That smell. No wonder you're mad.”

I hear little noises. Something that sounds like a raspberry on a belly. Wesley's laugh. Then quiet.

“Okay, you're set.” Tessa's voice goes warm. “See? Much better. Let's get breakfast. You're hungry, right? What do you want? Puree? Bottle? Both?”

More babbling.

“Both. Good choice. That's precisely what I'm thinking,” she says as she walks out of the nursery.

I smile into the pillow. Hearing her talk to my kid like that makes my chest go soft in a way I don't know how to fight.

Fifteen minutes later she comes back into my bedroom with Wesley in her arms. The baby wears a clean onesie and a look of deep satisfaction.

“Someone in here was hungry,” Tessa announces. “And a little poopy,” she adds, climbing onto the bed and setting the kid between us.

Wesley rolls over, plays with a loose strand of hair that escapes Tessa's ponytail, and says something that sounds like “Teh.”

The smile that spreads across Tessa's mouth is unreal.

Chapter 14

Tessa

I wipe my palms on my pants for the third time in five minutes.

The hallway outside King County Family Court is painfully neutral, like someone thinks beige walls can lower your pulse. It doesn’t. Nothing calms you when you’re waiting for a stranger to decide your life.

Zoe shakes beside me. Not metaphorically. Literally.

“Only answer what they ask,” Yvonne reminds her. “Don’t ramble. Like we practiced.”

The courtroom doors open. A woman walks out with tears in her eyes. That doesn’t help.

The courtroom is small. Wooden benches. A judge’s bench. Two tables for counsel. Fluorescent lights so cold they make everyone look a little sick.

And in the gallery, our whole team shows up. Nobody wants to miss it. Lucía in the front row, arms crossed. Sara beside her. Jade Herrera two seats down. Between them, IrisVance with her hair down and a button-up that is clearly not hers. Even Hades shows up with the technical staff.

Nate sits at the other table. Gray suit. Blue tie. Magazine smile.

The judge looks up.

“Are we ready to proceed?”

“Yes, Your Honor,” the attorneys answer almost in unison.

“Ms. Park, your first witness.”

“I call Dr. Tessa Clark.”

I walk to the stand. My heels sound too loud on the floor.

I sit. The chair is too hard. Or maybe I’m so tense everything feels wrong. From here I can see the whole room. Zoe with her spine straight. Iris chewing a nail down to nothing.