The Perfect Child

by Lucinda Berry

No matter how many times I was questioned by the police, it never got easier. My nerves jumped into high gear automatically. They always made me feel like I was lying, even when I was telling the truth.

“There’s something really amazing about watching someone transform before your eyes. It’s like witnessing a small miracle.

She was too young to be broken for life. Nobody was that damaged. I refused to believe that.

I fell in love with my baby boy instantly, marveling at his perfection and that he’d lived inside me for so long. My feelings stemmed from the deepest parts of me. He wasn’t a stranger in my arms—it was like a missing piece of myself had been returned.

She crawled up on my lap and whispered in her sweet voice, “I like hurting people. Do you?”