CHAPTER 6: Naomi and the Bible
Naomi had built her life around being believed.
She dressed modestly, carried a Bible, spoke softly in public, and used judgment like a blade wrapped in scripture. People called her traditional. Devoted. Strong. Emily had once tried to please her, believing respect might earn kindness. But Naomi had never wanted respect from Emily.
She wanted submission.
Now, in the emergency room, the Bible trembled in Naomi’s hands.
A nurse noticed.
So did Emily.
Quincy noticed too.
He turned another page in his notebook, but this time he did not read immediately. His eyes stayed on Naomi, and for the first time, he looked less like a frightened child and more like someone who had finally chosen a side.
“Grandma said Violet wasn’t supposed to inherit anything,” he said.
Naomi’s head snapped up. “That is enough.”
Quincy’s voice shook. “She said Dad already had me.”
The room became so quiet that the beep of a distant monitor sounded painfully loud.
Emily looked from Quincy to Garrett. “Inherit what?”
Garrett rubbed his hands over his face. “Emily, this is not the time.”
“This is exactly the time.”
The words came from the doctor, not Emily.
The doctor stood beside the neonatal warmer, his expression firm. “A newborn was falsely declared dead and removed from her mother. We are far beyond private family matters.”
Naomi stepped forward. “This family has suffered enough shame.”
Emily laughed once, broken and disbelieving. “Shame?”
Naomi’s eyes sharpened. “You came into this family unstable. You were emotional from the beginning. My son tried to protect you from grief you could not bear.”
Emily looked down at Violet.
The baby’s breathing was still weak but steadier now under the doctor’s careful support. Her tiny fingers flexed once against the blue blanket.
“You call this grief?” Emily whispered. “She is alive.”
Naomi’s face twisted.
For the first time, the coldness turned ugly.
“She was not meant to survive.”
The words left her mouth before she could stop them.
Everyone heard.
Garrett went still.
Naomi realized what she had said.
The Bible slipped slightly in her hands.
A nurse gasped. The doctor’s eyes narrowed. Quincy took a step closer to Emily, as if he wanted to shield the baby with his own small body.
Emily’s vision blurred.
“What did you say?”
Naomi tried to recover. “I meant medically. The child was not strong.”
“No,” Emily said. “That is not what you meant.”
Garrett turned to his mother, panic breaking through. “Mom.”
That single word confirmed everything.
Mom.
Not “Naomi, stop lying.”
Not “That’s not true.”
Not “How could you say that?”
Only Mom, spoken with fear that she had revealed too much.
Quincy looked down at the notebook.
“I wrote that too,” he said.
Naomi stared at him as if he were no longer her grandson, but an enemy.
“You are a child,” she hissed.
Quincy’s eyes filled.
“Yes,” he said. “That’s why you thought I wouldn’t matter.”
The Bible finally slipped from Naomi’s fingers.
May you like
It hit the polished floor with a soft, terrible sound.
No one picked it up.
