Maternity leave was supposed to be a time of bonding with my newborn, but it quickly turned into a nightmare when my coworker Emily decided she was entitled to more than just a ride to work. Her audacious actions tested the limits of our patience and pushed us to confront the lengths we’d go to protect our family.

My name is Katie, and life has been a whirlwind lately. Between moving in with my husband, Mark, and preparing for our first baby, things have been busyMark is my rock; he’s steady, kind, and has a bit of a people-pleaser streak. We’ve been together for a couple of years and married for about a year now. While we were excited about our growing family, the adjustments had been overwhelming at times.

One constant in my life, oddly enough, had been my coworker, Emily. For the past year, I’d been giving her a ride to work. Initially, it was no big deal; she lived just three minutes from my old apartment.

Katie is driving her co-worker Emily to work | Source: Midjourney

Even after I moved in with Mark, I kept driving her because, well, it seemed like the right thing to do. It wasn’t too much trouble, and she didn’t have anyone else to help her out.

But now things were different. I was going on maternity leave soon, and Emily was in a panic trying to figure out how she’d get to work. She couldn’t drive, and the nearest driving school was two hours away. With no family around to assist her, she was out of options.

pregnant woman holding her baby bump | Source: Pexels

One day, after another frantic discussion about her predicament, she looked at me with those pleading eyes. “Katie, I don’t know what I’m going to do. Can’t you help me out?”

I shook my head sympathetically. “Emily, I wish I could. But driving you to work while I’m on maternity leave just isn’t possible. Taking a newborn out at 6 a.m.? No way.”

A couple of weeks ago, she had a new idea. “You should ask Mark to drive me,” she suggested.

worried Emily is talking to Katie about her problem | Source: Midjourney

I almost laughed at the audacity. “No, Emily, I’m not asking him. We need to be at work by 6:30 a.m., and he starts at 7:30 a.m. We live 15 minutes from you, and our job is 20 minutes from his. It’s not happening.”

She tried to joke about it. “Well, it’s his fault you’re on maternity leave. He got you pregnant!”

I didn’t find it funny. “Emily, this isn’t about blame. It’s just not practical.”