Chapter 1

Mom loved to distill her parenting philosophy into rules.

My older sister, Aria, was raised as a little princess. Mom always called her "baby," and she grew up spoiled.

When I was born, Mom assigned me a different label: the last four digits of my Social Security Number, 2328.

She believed that a name stripped of emotional attachment would forge an independent personality.

For twenty years, to her, I was 2328.

Then, on Christmas Day, I brought my boyfriend home.

When he called me "baby" over dinner, my mother slammed her cup onto the floor.

"How dare you call her that? Her name is 2328!"

"I ruined Aria by calling her 'baby.' I won't let you ruin Serena, too!"

"Baby, let me peel a shrimp for you."

Before Kyle could finish, Mom's cup hit the floor with a crack.

"What did you just call her?"

Kyle froze. He looked from me to my mom, utterly confused.

"'Baby'...What's wrong?"

"Baby?" Mom's voice shot up an octave. "Her name is 2328!"

I watched Kyle's expression morph from confusion to pure bewilderment. Under the table, I gave his hand a reassuring squeeze.

With a sigh, I turned to Mom and said softly.

"Mom, let's just eat. It's only a nickname."

"It's not only a nickname."

She straightened up, settling into her lecturing posture.

My hands clenched.

Here we go again.

"I called her sister 'baby' from the day she was born. I spoiled her. She turned out rotten. I learned from my mistake. When Serena was born, I did it right. I've called her by the last four digits of her Social Security Number ever since."

Mom's eyes locked onto Kyle.

"So please, call Serena by 2328."

The living room fell into dead silence. Kyle swallowed awkwardly.

Aria emerged from the bedroom, her pocket still stuffed with the money Mom had secretly slipped her when she thought I wasn't watching.

"Mom, you're scaring him."

She drifted over to Kyle, her tone light and explanatory.

"Don't take it personally. My mom is just...very dedicated to her parenting theories."

"Look at me. She called me 'baby' my whole life, and look how I turned out. Still trying to kick all the bad habits she baked into me."

"So with 2328 here, Mom doesn't allow names. No nicknames. Just the last four digits. It's her foolproof method."

"She says it prevents dependency and builds character."

Aria let out a laugh that didn't reach her eyes. "I'm basically her living cautionary tale."

Her mock-pitiful tone made me dig my nails into my palm.

Mom seized the moment to drag me into the bedroom.

"What's wrong with you?" She looked at me with scrutiny. "I worked so hard to raise you as an independent woman, and you turn around and become some man's pampered wife?"

"He just called me 'baby' once." I kept my voice as calm as possible. "Mom, you can't expect everyone around me to call me 2328, can you? It makes me uncomfortable..."

"What's uncomfortable about it?" Her eyes were cold as ice. "I sacrificed your sister as my parenting experiment. All the failed lessons I learned from her, I corrected with you. You got the better deal!"

"Better deal?" I looked up at her. "So calling me by a number, forcing me into emotional isolation, making me feel unloved-that's for my own good?"

Mom's eyes widened. Her lips pressed into a thin line.

"I've raised two children. Don't I know better than you?"

"Only by making you emotionally independent of others can you become strong and self-reliant."

I watched her stubborn expression, suddenly feeling deflated.

Before bringing my boyfriend home, I'd joked that my family had some "special rules."

He'd laughed and ruffled my hair.

"How special could it be? They're not going to ban me from eating, right?"

I'd thought Mom would set aside those ridiculous rules for my boyfriend's first visit.

I bit my lip and looked straight into Mom's eyes.

"Mom, are these rules of yours really for my own good?"