Chapter 3

About an hour and a half later, the young man finally let out a long sigh and flexed his wrist. "You should feel a lot better now," he said. "At least, you can finally nurse your baby tonight." The unsettling sensation faded. I opened my eyes slowly and saw a wet patch on my chest. My cheeks flushed, and I looked down, quickly straightening my clothes. He stood, picked up a piece of paper, and wrote down his phone number. His expression was gentle, and even his voice had a soft, soothing quality that calmed me. "If it swells again, call me," he said. "My grandma can't get around easily, so she'd just be worried if she couldn't help." I nodded, but my eyes lingered on his long, fair hands, still tinged with the memory of his touch. After he left, I licked my lips and picked up my starving son. Finally, everything felt better now. As I nursed Ethan, I rocked him gently in my arms. But my mind drifted back to the man's caresses. How I wished they hadn't stopped there. What if they'd… A sudden, unwelcome heat between my legs jolted me back to reality. How could I even think that? My husband was away, and here I was, fantasizing about doing it with someone else. The shame hit me like a punch. That night, some nosy neighbor apparently decided to share the story of a male stranger visiting my house with my in-laws. They stormed over, banging on the door without a care that Ethan and I were asleep. The noise startled me awake. I scooped up my wailing son and went to the door. When I pushed it open, their faces were twisted with anger. "Summer, what has our family ever done to deserve this?" my father-in-law demanded. "How could you bring such disgrace under our roof?" my mother-in-law added. Hearing their insults, I froze, then tried to explain. No matter what I said, they refused to believe me. The incident even reached Eleanor. Only after she and the young man repeatedly vouched for me did my in-laws finally calm down. But the damage was done, and the whole village had almost heard about my "scandal". I spent the next few days fuming and refusing to let them see Ethan. I couldn't even fake a friendly face toward them. Realizing they had misunderstood me, my in-laws came by every day to apologize, but I always shut the door in their faces. On the fourth day of my sulking, they somehow showed up with two enormous pork hocks—one in a soup, one braised. The white, oily broth glimmered invitingly, and the braised one was delicious. My stomach growled at the sight. "Summer, we're sorry. But you know David is working in the city to support you and Ethan. We just worried you might make a mistake," my mother-in-law said. Listening to their apology and glancing at the two fat, juicy hocks, I decided to be stubborn in my own way. To ensure Ethan had enough breast milk, I argued with them and ate both in one sitting. The next day, I wasn't surprised that my breasts became severely engorged. Even the lumps I had just massaged closed up again, and some were even oozing blood. Ethan was starving again. I had no choice, but with a fluttering anticipation in my chest, I picked up the phone and dialed the man's number.