I saved the voicemails.
Maribel told me to.
My attorney told me to.
Yes, I had an attorney by then.
Daniel called her from the hallway. Her name was Priya Shah, and she had handled his friend’s custody case two years earlier. She arrived at the hospital in a wool coat and sneakers, because snow had turned the sidewalks into a war crime.
She listened without interrupting.
Then she said, “Do not respond to him without counsel. Do not agree to discharge with him. Do not allow him to take the baby out of this room. Has he signed the birth certificate?”
“No.”
“Good.”
I looked at Lily sleeping in the bassinet.
“I gave her my last name.”
Priya smiled slightly.
“Better.”
“Can I do that?”
“You can name your child. Paternity gives him rights, but not ownership. Remember that distinction. Men like your husband often do not.”
Men like your husband.
