5 Chapter 5

Matthew slid out from under the covers and knelt beside the bed, his hands folded. “Dear God, please don’t let Mom hate us.” He thought for a moment. “And please make the baby go away.”

He wasn’t completely satisfied with the prayer, but he didn’t know what else he could do.

No, wait a second. There was something else. Mom had told him once, “If anything happens to me, you call your grandfather.”

Dad’s father had always been “grandpa,” and Matthew had known she meant her own father. They’d never met him, but Mom had told them stories about when she was a little girl, and he sounded like a man who would know what to do.

Mom had given him a piece of paper with a phone number on it and made him promise not to tell Dad. “This is only for emergencies.”

A glance at the clock told him it was 3:05 A.M. Everyone should be asleep. He tiptoed to his door and cracked it open.