Chapter 7
The thirty-day block expired on a Tuesday. Ethan chose not to unblock his mother immediately, deciding that an extension of peace was warranted.
But Iowa, despite its open skies, can feel incredibly small.
On a Thursday evening, Lauren went to the local Target to pick up diapers and formula. Ethan was at home with Noah, expecting her back within the hour.
Ninety minutes passed. Then, Ethan’s phone vibrated. It was a text from Lauren.
‘Ethan. Your mom is here. Aisle 4. She blocked my cart. I need you.’
Ethan’s blood turned to liquid nitrogen. He didn’t hesitate. He called their next-door neighbor, a trusted teenager who frequently babysat, and asked her to sprint over to watch Noah for twenty minutes. The moment she arrived, Ethan threw himself into his truck and sped toward the store.
When he walked into Target, his eyes scanned the aisles until he found Aisle 4 (Baby Care).
There stood Patricia, cornering Lauren against a shelf of baby wipes. Patricia’s arms were crossed, her face flushed with righteous indignation. Lauren was pale, her knuckles white as she gripped the handle of her shopping cart.
“—just want you to look me in the eye and admit what you did, Lauren,” Patricia was saying loudly enough to draw looks from other shoppers. “You tore my son away from me. You made him choose.”
“Mom,” Ethan’s voice cut through the aisle like a gunshot.
Patricia whipped around, her expression instantly shifting from aggressive to victimized. “Ethan! Thank God. Look at what your wife is doing—she’s refusing to even speak to me! She’s treating me like a stranger!”
Ethan stepped directly between Patricia and Lauren, putting his large frame squarely in his mother’s line of sight. He looked down at her.
“Lauren didn’t block your phone, Mom. I did. Lauren didn’t kick you out. I did. Stop harassing my wife.”
“Ethan, look at yourself!” Patricia cried, gesturing wildly. “You’re acting like a dog on a leash! She has completely brainwashed you! I raised you to be a strong man, not someone who cowers behind a woman!”
“A strong man protects his family,” Ethan said, his voice terrifyingly calm, though his heart was pounding. “You are not my nuclear family anymore, Mom. Lauren and Noah are. If you ever corner my wife in public again, if you ever scream at her or make her feel unsafe, I will file a restraining order. Do you understand me?”
Patricia gasped, stepping back as if she had been slapped. “A restraining order? Against your own mother? You wouldn't dare. Think of the scandal!”
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“Try me,” Ethan said. He turned to Lauren, his voice instantly softening. “Let’s go honey.”
He took the cart from Lauren’s trembling hands, wrapped his arm firmly around her waist, and guided her down the aisle, leaving Patricia standing alone among the diapers, her mouth opening and closing in stunned, humiliated silence.
