Marcus: I paid three different specialists to feed him today, and none of them could get him to swallow a single drop!
Clara: Because none of them treated him like a baby. They treated him like a medical project.
Marcus: He hasn't eaten in forty-eight hours! The doctors said if he doesn't take milk by noon, he has to be admitted to the hospital!
Clara: Then stop shouting and let me do my job, Marcus.
Marcus: You have five minutes before I call security to throw you out of my house!
Clara ignored his threat, turning her back on Marcus as she sat back down in the rocking chair. She reached for the glass milk bottle resting on the warmer table, checking the temperature against her wrist. Her hands trembled slightly, but her voice remained soft and steady.
Clara: Shh... Mommy's here. No one will scare you anymore.
Marcus: Stop calling yourself his mother! My wife passed away four months ago during delivery!
Clara: Your wife was my twin sister, Marcus. And you know as well as I do that she didn't want him raised in a house filled with anger.
Marcus: Your sister made a deal with my family estate lawyers before she died!
Clara: She made a deal to protect her child from your corporate greed!
Marcus took a step forward, his jaw tight as he pointed a finger at Clara's face.
Marcus: You were brought here because the agency said you were a certified infant nurse! You were not brought here to make claims about my family!
Clara: I didn't apply through the agency, Marcus. I came here because my sister's private lawyer called me yesterday morning.
Marcus: What lawyer? What are you talking about?
Clara: The lawyer who held the secondary trust fund papers you tried to hide from the court.
Marcus froze, his dark eyes narrowing as he stared at Clara under the bright nursery lights. On the wall behind them, the American flag fluttered softly from the air conditioning vent, the silence in the room growing heavy and tense.
Marcus: What trust fund papers?
Clara: The papers that prove who Leo's true biological guardian is supposed to be if anything happened to Sarah.
Marcus: Sarah signed full custody over to me in the prenuptial draft!
Clara: She signed a draft that was contingent on you being present at his birth, Marcus. Where were you four months ago when Sarah was in the hospital?
Marcus swallowed hard, unable to answer as Clara gently pressed the bottle nipple to the baby's lips.