Keep It in the Family

The narrative shifts to Debbie’s perspective as she and Dave join Finn and Mia at a local pub. Mia gives Dave and Debbie an ultrasound photo and shares the happy news of her pregnancy. Debbie is overjoyed but apprehensive at the thought of becoming a grandmother. She has discovered Dave’s illegal painkillers, which were bought online from a Polish pharmacy, and she is aware that he uses alcohol and pills to self-medicate. Although she doesn’t know why he needs them, she knows that he is battling an unknown health condition. She has not confronted Dave because she assumes that he is embarrassed. She reflects that she is also living with a diagnosis that she hasn’t shared with Dave. Debbie fears that her own diagnosis will limit the time she can spend with her grandchild. She vows to improve her relationship with Mia so that she can enjoy her grandchild as much as possible for the few years she has left.

Chapter 9 returns to the perspective of the unidentified stalker, who has now broken into Finn and Mia’s house. The stalker watches Mia while she sleeps, reflecting that Mia is “like my mother, a pretty woman who hides an ugly heart” (39). The stalker fantasizes about strangling Mia and cutting her unborn baby from her womb. They justify their thoughts by imagining that this action is necessary to protect the baby from Mia, with the implication that Mia—like the narrator’s mother—will cause great harm to her child. Conflicted by their vivid fantasies and the constraints of the law, the stalker acknowledges that they will never be able to get away with killing Mia. Instead, they settle for spitting in Mia’s mouth while she sleeps.

Chapter 10 is narrated by Mia, who has no idea that a stalker invaded her house while she slept. Now in her 30th week of pregnancy, Mia is excited to meet her child soon, but her pregnancy has been difficult. Her blood pressure is dangerously high, and her doctor is concerned. Mia is also irritated by every interaction with Debbie. Although Debbie is attempting to repair their relationship, Mia feels that her small gestures do not outweigh her earlier snide remarks. However, neither Mia’s friends nor Finn support her when she complains about Debbie’s comments, and Mia feel isolated, paranoid, and unsure of herself. As her due date approaches, she finds herself reflecting on her complicated relationship with her own parents.

Mia wishes that her parents were nearby to support her, but she acknowledges that her family has never been emotionally close. Her parents raised her to be independent, and Mia wishes that they had been more involved and affectionate. Now that she is about to become a mother herself, she worries that because she has never had a warm and loving family, she may struggle to connect with her own child. One day, as she helps with the renovations, she stumbles across a message carved into an attic floorboard. Written in a childlike scrawl, the message reads, “I WILL SAVE THEM FROM THE ATTIC” (46).

The narrative shifts to Finn’s perspective as Mia alerts him to her discovery, and Finn realizes that Mia has found something alarming in the house. Although he previously harbored his own misgivings about the house, he is uninterested in the message and brushes it off as a prank by mischievous teens. His reaction encourages Dave and Debbie to disregard Mia’s feelings as well, and Finn hopes that Mia will let it go.

Chapter 12 is narrated by Mia, who is now determined to investigate the message. She wants to climb into the attic herself, but Debbie reminds her that she is seven months pregnant and warns her against putting the baby at risk. Mia concedes the point and waits while Finn and Dave climb a rickety ladder and disappear into the darkened attic. Finn reassures Mia that the attic is empty apart from some old suitcases, but Mia is unsettled and climbs into the attic to examine the suitcases herself, ignoring Finn and Debbie’s protests. Mia discovers a hidden wall in the attic and finds seven more suitcases, each of which is filled with the decomposing body of a child. Trembling and horrified, Mia stumbles backward and falls out of the attic.