Chapter 5 - The Baby Changed Everything
The pregnancy changed the rhythm of our lives.
Not magically.
Not overnight.
Lauren still slept in the guest room.
We still attended therapy separately.
There were still days when she couldn't look at me.
But there were also moments when I saw the woman I married returning.
One night, she called me into the nursery.
We had converted the old office into a baby room.
She stood beside the crib.
“I don't know if we should do this.”
I sat beside her.
“Have the baby?”
“No.”
She touched her stomach.
“I mean us.”
I looked at her.
“You don't owe me another chance because we're having a child.”
“I know.”
“If you decide to leave, I'll accept it.”
She looked surprised.
“You mean that?”
“Yes.”
“What about the baby?”
“I'll be a father whether we're married or divorced.”
She sat beside me.
“You're different.”
“I hope so.”
She smiled sadly.
“I want to believe you.”
“You don't have to believe me yet.”
“How long?”
“As long as it takes.”
She leaned back.
“I don't know if I love you the same way.”
I nodded.
“I understand.”
“But I don't hate you anymore.”
That was enough.
Months passed.
I became obsessed with being present.
I cooked.
I cleaned.
I took the children to school.
I learned how to fold tiny baby clothes.
I went to every prenatal appointment.
One afternoon, Lauren asked me to feel the baby kick.
I hesitated.
“Are you sure?”
She nodded.
I placed my hand gently against her stomach.
The baby kicked.
I laughed.
Lauren laughed too.
For a few seconds, everything disappeared.
No affairs.
No lies.
No resentment.
Just us.
Then Lauren whispered,
“I missed this.”
“What?”
“Us.”
My heart broke.
“I missed you too.”
She looked at me.
“I never stopped loving you.”
“I never stopped loving you either.”
“That wasn't the problem.”
“I know.”
She leaned against my shoulder.
It was the first time she had done that in almost a year.
I didn't move.
I didn't want to scare the moment away.
Then my phone buzzed.
I looked at it.
A message from an unknown number.
You should tell Lauren about Madison.
My blood ran cold.
Madison.
One of the women I had cheated with.
Lauren noticed my expression.
“What is it?”
“Nothing.”
She looked at me.
“James.”
I hesitated.
Then I handed her the phone.
She read the message.
“Who is Madison?”
I closed my eyes.
“I was going to tell you.”
“When?”
“Tonight.”
She stood.
“Tell me now.”
I explained everything.
Madison had been an affair from three years earlier.
But there was something I had never known.
She had become pregnant.
And she had claimed the child was mine.
I had paid her money to disappear.
I had never investigated.
Lauren stared at me.
“You paid her?”
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“Fifty thousand.”
“And you never knew whether the child was yours?”
“No.”
She looked devastated.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I was ashamed.”
She walked away.
I thought I had lost her.
Then she turned.
“Find out.”
“What?”
“Find out whether that child is yours.”
I nodded.
The DNA test was ordered.
Two weeks later, the results arrived.
The child was not mine.
But the truth behind Madison's story revealed something much worse.
Someone had been paying her.
Someone who wanted to make sure I never investigated.
And the name on the payment records was familiar.
May you like
My former business partner.
He had been blackmailing me for years.
