Chapter 5
I pulled David aside.
“Your wife needs plenty of rest during this postpartum period. She absolutely can’t do any chores. Overexertion now can lead to lifelong health issues.”
“For example, she mustn’t cry or get her hands wet with cold water during this time…”
David nodded obediently.
But when he turned around, he found Lucy in the bathroom washing nappies with cold water. Her hands were already red and chapped.
David quickly grabbed Lucy’s hands: “Honey, let me do that! You need to rest!”
Lucy wiped away her tears.
“It’s okay, I don’t want Mom to work so hard. I’m young, I can handle it. Mom said that back in her day, women would be out working right after giving birth. I feel bad seeing her do all the work…”
Hearing his wife say this, David became furious. It was clear his mother had been guilt-tripping Lucy.
He stormed over to confront Barbara, who was scrolling through TikTok on the couch:
“Mom, why are you making Lucy wash nappies? She just gave birth!”
Barbara didn’t even look up.
“Oh please, we’ve all been through childbirth. Besides, she doesn’t even have to take care of the baby. Finding some chores to do is good for her!”
Her unreasonable attitude made David explode.
He grabbed all the cloth nappies and furiously stuffed them into a garbage bag, then tossed the whole thing into the dumpster outside.
Seeing her son truly angry, Barbara didn’t dare say anything.
As David passed by the master bedroom, he noticed the air conditioning was on and set to cool.
Barbara let out an outraged shriek and glared daggers at me.
“Are you deaf AND blind? Didn’t I tell you not to use the AC? If my precious grandson catches a cold, will you take responsibility?”
Seeing her losing it, I calmly said:
“Well, if we can’t use the AC in the bedroom, we should turn off the living room AC too. Otherwise, the cold air might seep into the bedroom and the baby could catch a draft.”
Before Barbara could react, I dashed to the living room and switched off the AC.
Barbara muttered something under her breath that I couldn’t catch.
After that, whenever I saw her, she was either fanning herself while watching TV or scrolling on her phone while sweating profusely.
Well, nobody enjoys 86°F weather without AC.
But the next day, angry red rashes appeared all over the baby’s face.
Lucy anxiously examined the rashes while asking me:
“Jane, are the rashes serious? Will they leave scars?”
I had just taken out some rash cream from my suitcase when Barbara burst in.
“Didn’t I say the mother shouldn’t have contact with the baby? Are you deliberately trying to defy me?”