Chapter 10 - ABIGAIL'S SHAME
Abigail refused to explain herself during the assault for one reason Claire did not understand until later.
She was ashamed.
Not of Richard.
Not of the baby.
Of being pregnant at fifty-three.
At prenatal appointments she had already endured:
stares,
jokes,
questions disguised as concern.
“Was this planned?”
“Are you sure?”
“At your age?”
She knew the risks.
She had done more counseling than most younger mothers ever did.
Still, family reactions scared her.
Christopher’s first expression when he saw her belly months earlier had been:
confusion.
He assumed weight gain.
She let him.
Then the clinic file revealed everything at once.
During the confrontation he shouted:
“You’re disgusting.”
That word shut Abigail down.
She returned emotionally to every stranger who had made her feel ridiculous.
So when he demanded:
“Why did you do it?”
she could not answer.
Not because she lacked explanation.
Because shame stole language.
Later, therapy helped her say:
May you like
“My age is a medical fact. It is not a moral confession.”
Claire wrote that sentence down.
