Chapter 3

The next morning, while I was making Ronald's food, Ken suddenly walked into the kitchen holding up his phone.

"Mom, how do you adjust a one-and-a-half-year-old's diet after they've overeaten and gotten backed up?"

I paused.

"Why are you asking that all of a sudden?"

"A follower asked."

He held the phone out in front of me.

Only then did I see that the parenting account he ran with Sabina had gained tens of thousands of new followers.

When they first started the account, Sabina didn't know a thing.

How to introduce solids, when to wean off night feedings, how to care for eczema, how to fix a baby who kept waking at night. She came to me with her phone for all of it.

However I taught her, that was what she filmed.

Later, as the account slowly took off, Ken just had me organize everything I'd learned in over twenty years as a postpartum caregiver into notes.

I figured it was all to help my daughter, so I didn't think much of it.

"When they're backed up, don't chase them with food for a few days. Cut out meat for two days, and reduce the main portions."

I'd barely said a few sentences before Ken nodded, satisfied.

"That's good, that's enough."

In under half an hour, Sabina was already sitting in the living room, talking to the camera.

"A lot of moms panic the moment their kid won't eat. But when a child is backed up, the worst thing you can do is chase them with food!"

Word for word what I'd just taught her.

Not long after the video went up, the comments were all praising how professional she was. Judith watched, delighted, and patted Sabina's arm.

"That's my Sabina, so capable. She can stay home with a kid and still make money."

I was beside them, wiping down Ronald's wet pants, and hearing that left a taste in my mouth I couldn't name.

That afternoon, Judith changed into a new outfit and had Ken film one for her too. The moment the camera came on, she cradled Ronald and smiled all sweet and kind.

"I've raised our kid with my own two hands the whole time. The most important thing about grandparents raising a child is patience."

Ronald lasted less than two minutes in her arms before he started crying, and she immediately shoved him into mine.

"Take him, quick. He's giving me a headache."

Once the video was done, she called out to me again.

"Hilda, I've got my follow-up at the hospital tomorrow. Get the baby down early and come with me."

Before I could say anything, Sabina answered for me.

"No problem. My mom's got nothing else going on anyway."

I couldn't help looking at her.

"Isn't Ronald getting his vaccine tomorrow?"

"So take my mother-in-law in the morning, then take Ronald in the afternoon."

Sabina said it like it was nothing.

"Mom, back when you worked as a caregiver, you ran to several hospitals a day. Wasn't that manageable too?"

Something clenched in my chest.

Back then, when I ran to the hospital, I was working for a paycheck. Now I circled their whole family twenty-four hours a day, and somehow that counted as having nothing to do.

But Judith was sitting right there, and in the end I didn't want to embarrass my daughter.

"All right."

Only then was Judith satisfied. A moment later, as if she'd just remembered something, she added,

"Oh, right. My daughter's due next month. You should go stay at her place for a couple of months. It's her first, and nobody there knows a thing."

I froze.

"Me?"

"Isn't that exactly what you do?"

Judith said it like it was obvious.

"Hiring a caregiver out there costs twenty, thirty grand. Why throw money away like that?"

Before I could speak, Sabina was already smiling and coaxing me.

"Mom, just help her out. My sister-in-law's always been good to me. If you see her through her recovery, it makes me look good with his family too."

I looked at my daughter and said nothing for a long moment.

"We'll see when the time comes."

That was all I could give her. Sabina looked put out.

"We're all family. Why are you being so distant?"

I didn't answer.

That evening, Judith finished the medication for her follow-up and tossed the empty box onto the table.

"Pick me up two months' worth while you're at it tomorrow."

Ken didn't even look up.

"Mom, you cover my mother's first. My credit card's still maxed out these days."

Seventeen hundred and some. I paid it out of my pension again. The payment had just gone through when Ken suddenly sat up straight on the couch.

"Sabina, a brand just messaged us!"

Sabina rushed over. The two of them stared at the phone for a while, getting more and more excited.

"A hundred and twenty grand?"

Judith stood up too.

"A hundred and twenty grand for one video?"

Ken shook his head.

"This isn't a regular video. They want to do a whole sponsored parenting livestream."

Then he looked up at me.

"Mom, they care most about professional content. Put in the work these next few days. Write up everything on Ronald from birth until now, all his food, his sleep, his care."

Sabina grabbed my hand too, her face full of hope.

"Mom, if this deal comes through, our account is really going to blow up. You have to help me."