me. That ridiculous doctor cream smells awful.”
My hand tightened around the phone.
“Mom, we told you not to use it.”
“Oh, Laura. It’s natural.”
“That doesn’t mean it’s safe for her.”
“I used things like that on you.”
“And Emma isn’t me.”
She sighed impatiently.
Then came the sentence that ended the discussion.
“You young mothers worry about everything. She cries, I put some oil in her bath, and she calms down.”
I looked across the kitchen at Daniel.
He had heard every word.
“Mom, you won’t be watching Emma alone for now.”
“What?”
“Not until we know exactly what’s causing this.”
She exploded.
She accused Daniel of turning me against her.
She accused me of being ungrateful.
She said I was punishing her over “a little rash.”
I ended the call.
Over the following weeks, under her doctors’ guidance and with the suspected products removed, Emma’s skin gradually
