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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nI tried to convince myself that children sometimes say strange things. Maybe she had heard something at preschool. Maybe she was just imagining things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But something in her voice didn\u2019t sound like imagination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat secret?\u201d I asked carefully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lisa gently stroked the baby\u2019s tiny hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSometimes Daddy talks to himself at night.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I frowned slightly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat does he talk about?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She shrugged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe says that soon everything will change.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The nurse tried to ease the tension.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cChildren often have very vivid imaginations,\u201d she said gently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But Lisa immediately shook her head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m not making it up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then she leaned closer to the baby again and whispered:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019ll explain everything to you later.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At that exact moment, the door to the room slowly opened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My husband stood in the doorway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He was smiling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But suddenly that smile seemed strange to me\u2014too tight, almost forced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHow are my girls doing?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lisa immediately fell silent and held the baby a little tighter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCareful, Lisa,\u201d I said quickly. \u201cGive the baby to Mommy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She obeyed, but she didn\u2019t take her eyes off her father.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My husband stepped closer to the bed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSo, have you two already met?\u201d he asked with a smile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lisa nodded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then she said a sentence that made my heart start pounding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDaddy, I already told her.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My husband stopped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTold her what?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lisa looked at him for a few seconds before answering quietly:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat you say at night.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For a split second, his smile disappeared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just for a moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then he laughed lightly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAh, children and their imaginations\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But in that moment a memory suddenly flashed through my mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A few weeks earlier, I had woken up in the middle of the night feeling thirsty. I heard my husband talking in the kitchen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I assumed he was on the phone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But when I walked out of the bedroom, he was standing there alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There was no phone in his hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He simply said he had been thinking out loud.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the time, I didn\u2019t pay much attention to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But now, looking at the serious expression on my four-year-old daughter\u2019s face, I felt real fear for the first time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And just then, Lisa leaned toward her baby sister again and whispered words that I heard perfectly clearly:<\/p>\n\n\n\n