Chapter 4
After ten years of secrecy, Ralph finally revealed their child’s burial site.
Mary rose unsteadily from the floor, vision swimming, a faint smile of relief touching her lips.
She kept repeating: “Community Cemetery 288, Community Cemetery 288…”
Then she stumbled past Ralph toward the hospital room door. As her hand touched the handle, his grip closed around her wrist from behind.
“Where are you going?”
Mary stared blankly ahead. “Community Cemetery 288.’
“You can’t go out looking like this.”
Ralph steered her toward a mirror.
Mary lifted her eyes to her reflection-tangled hair, pallid skin, deep shadows beneath her eyes, chapped lips, clothes damp with sweat.
Ralph added sharply: “Who do you plan on terrifying with that appearance?”
Mary’s expression shifted abruptly. “Right… you’re absolutely right!
Can’t scare the baby.
I’ll go change immediately. Need to look beautiful for my baby…”
“I’ll drive you.”
Ralph’s voice hardened as he continued: “So you won’t wander off and embarrass the Walkers!”
During the drive, Ralph canceled two major deals via phone calls.
Mary paid no attention, gazing contentedly out the window.
Now that she knew her baby’s resting place… even after death, her soul would know where to
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find her child.
How wonderful…
After changing into a formal winter coat, Mary hauled out a large suitcase packed with toys bought for her child.
Shattered ones had been painstakingly reassembled and placed inside.
She added new gifts until the case overflowed.
That afternoon, they reached Community Cemetery.
Mary lugged the heavy case up the stone steps, refusing Ralph’s offer to carry it.
These were ten years’ worth of presents for her baby-no one else would touch them.
Finally, they stood before the tiny grave.
Mary knelt by the headstone, fingers tracing the engraved name with feather-light tenderness.
“Baby,” she whispered, “so this is where you’ve been. Mommy’s here now, and I brought gifts…”
Unzipping the suitcase, she lifted crystal snow globes. “Mommy got this little house for you every snowfall. Do you like it?”
Setting them down, she produced a baby rattle with a soft smile. “Your full-moon gift. Isn’t it pretty?”
She gently swayed the rattle, its drumming sound echoing before she placed it carefully before the stone. Next came a plush bear.
“Your hundredth-day present. So soft for cuddling at bedtime.”
“Your first-birthday walker to help you take steps.”
“And this…”
Ralph watched Mary joyfully introduce each toy, his eyes darkening as he turned away.
A sudden phone call shattered the quiet.
He answered, his expression hardening instantly. “Mary, the driver will take you back later!”
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Chapter 4
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Ralph strode off urgently.
Mary remained immersed in her one-sided conversation, oblivious to his departure.
By the time she presented the final gift, dusk was gathering.
Her gaze drifted toward the empty plot beside them.
Mary had called Funeral Services the day Ralph confronted her about having children, scheduling full post-mortem arrangements.
Now she called their representative again: “The burial plot is set-Plot 288 at Community Cemetery. When I die, bury me with the child here.”
“But don’t carve my name on the headstone.
I’ll buy the adjacent plot and engrave my name there.”
Then my baby and I won’t be disturbed by anyone…
After hanging up, Mary immediately contacted the cemetery manager to purchase the neighboring plot for expansion.
Two hours later, workers finished digging and left. The fresh grave gaped like an open wound.
Mary took a knife, forcefully carving her name into the new headstone.
The scraping of metal against stone echoed jarringly through the silent cemetery. Blood seeped from her worn fingertips into the stone grooves, yet she remained oblivious.
“Mary, born August 12, 1996, died…”
She carved her predetermined death date stroke by stroke, each character stained with blood.
With the headstone completed, Mary lay in the grave.
She turned her head to the side, gazing at the child’s headstone mere inches away, savoring the warmth of resting beside her baby.
“Sweetheart, Mommy will join you soon. Wait for Mommy…”
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