She rearranged the living room.
She filled the refrigerator with whatever Lauren said she was craving.
Derek began sleeping over.
Then he stopped leaving.
One Tuesday afternoon, I came home from work and found half my belongings stacked in the hallway.
My lamp.
My books.
Two plastic bins of clothes.
The little desk Grandma Ruth had restored for me.
I stood there staring.
“What happened?”
Mom appeared from my bedroom.
Behind her, Derek was assembling a crib.
Lauren sat on my bed scrolling through her phone.
“Emma,” Mom said carefully, “we need to make some changes.”
I walked past her.
My closet had been emptied.
My posters were gone.
There were boxes of diapers stacked beside the window.
“What changes?”
“Lauren needs your room.”
I laughed.
Not because it was funny.
Because my brain refused to understand.
“Why?”
“It’s bigger.”
“So?”
“The baby is coming.”
I looked toward the smaller bedroom across the hall.
