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I Went to Buy a Crib and Found His Other Family
Novelix
Completed
After three pregnancy losses, I finally saw a heartbeat. I went to buy a secondhand crib—and found my supposedly overseas husband selling it with another woman. He'd bought her a house with my savings while refusing to return the money I needed for my mother's care. He didn't know I was pregnant. I gathered the evidence, exposed him at his father's birthday dinner, and filed for divorce. Then the paternity test came back: her baby wasn't his. Now he wants me and our unborn child back. I'm taking back my money, not my husband.
Chapters (3)
第1章
On the forty-seventh day of my husband's business trip, I go to buy a secondhand crib.
I haven't told Daniel I'm pregnant.
After three pregnancies that ended before we could bring a baby home, I want to wait until I have something more than a positive test to show him.
This morning, I saw a heartbeat.
The ultrasound picture is in my purse, folded inside the paperwork from my appointment.
The seller asks to meet in the parking lot behind the hospital. I get there early.
Ten minutes later, a black Mercedes SUV turns in.
I recognize the dent above the rear wheel first.
I step behind a parked delivery van before the driver's door opens.
Daniel gets out.
He's supposed to be overseas. Different time zone. Long meetings. A confidential project he can barely discuss.
Last night, he told me he missed sleeping beside me.
Now he walks around to the back of his car and opens the hatch.
The passenger door opens, too.
A woman steps out with a baby against her hip.
"Are you sure we should sell it?"
Daniel lifts the crib mattress from the trunk.
"He's got the new one."
"What about the next baby?"
He smiles at her.
The woman is standing only a few parking spaces away from me.
I can see the baby's fingers curled around her necklace.
"We'll buy another," Daniel says. "And a bigger place. Somewhere with good schools."
She leans into him.
"You promise?"
"When have I ever let you down?"
I take out my phone.
For the first few seconds, I can't hold it steady.
On the screen, Daniel sets the mattress down and kisses the baby's forehead.
The woman smiles up at him.
He looks so comfortable.
As though this is an ordinary errand.
As though he has done this a hundred times.
My phone vibrates in my hand.
A message from the seller.
We're here. Where are you?
Daniel is looking down at his phone.
I stop recording.
Something came up. I'm sorry. I can't buy it.
He frowns at the screen.
"What?" the woman asks.
"Buyer canceled."
"Then let's keep it."
He taps at his phone, then puts it away without sending me a reply.
"Fine."
She bounces the baby gently.
"You're not going over there tonight, are you?"
Daniel looks at her.
"Vanessa."
"I'm just asking."
"I told you. She doesn't even know I'm back."
Vanessa kisses his cheek.
Then she puts the baby in the car seat behind the passenger seat while Daniel slides the mattress back into the trunk.
I stay behind the van until they leave.
I don't cry until I hear my own phone play the first words of Daniel's new voice message.
"Hey, baby. Just got out of a seven-hour meeting."
I stare at the empty parking space.
"I'm exhausted. I'd kill for something you cooked. I miss you."
Behind his voice, I can hear a turn signal.
I listen to the message again.
Then I type:
Get some rest.
The ultrasound picture is still in my bag.
I don't take it out.
Daniel comes home just before midnight.
He drops his suitcase by the door and pulls me into his arms.
"Surprise."
His coat smells of cold air and a perfume I don't wear.
I keep my hands at my sides.
"Your project's finished?"
"Earlier than we expected."
He kisses the top of my head.
"I came straight home. Twenty hours of airports. I'm dead."
I look at the suitcase.
It's the same one he left with.
There's no new airline tag on the handle.
"Let me see you," he says.
He holds me at arm's length.
"You look tired."
"So do you."
"I brought you something."
He reaches into a shopping bag and takes out a purse.
It's from a brand I used to stop and look at when we went shopping together.
For one second, I remember how happy this would have made me yesterday.
Then I see the scratches on the clasp.
One corner is worn.
I open the zipper.
There's a short strand of pale hair caught in the lining.
My hair is dark.
"Did you buy this at the airport?"
"Duty-free."
"It looks used."
His smile pauses.
Then he takes it from me and rubs the clasp with his thumb.
"Probably got knocked around in the bag."
"The leather, too?"
"I was in a rush, Nat. I didn't inspect every inch."
I let go of the purse.
"Do you have the receipt?"
"Must have thrown it out."
He puts the bag on the counter and wraps his arms around me from behind.
"I'll make it up to you. Dinner tomorrow. That seafood place you love."
I look at his hands resting against my stomach.
Daniel loves that restaurant.
I'm allergic to shellfish.
There are things I can order there, but for the first two years of our marriage, he wouldn't even suggest it.
He used to check sauces with the server.
Once, he sent back his own meal because he was worried about kissing me afterward.
Now he's waiting for me to thank him.
"Okay," I say.
He kisses my neck and goes upstairs.
I wait until I hear the shower.
Then I call Rachel.
She answers on the fourth ring, her voice thick with sleep.
"Natalie?"
"I need to talk to you about a divorce."
第2章
Daniel orders shrimp.
He doesn't look at me when he does it.
I choose grilled chicken and tell the server about my allergy. She nods and goes to check with the kitchen.
Daniel is already looking at his phone.
"Work?" I ask.
He turns it facedown.
"Nothing important."
It vibrates against the table.
Then again.
He presses his palm over it.
"Ignore it. Tonight's about us."
"What happened to the confidential project?"
"Still tying up loose ends."
His phone starts ringing.
He looks at the screen.
The irritation leaves his face.
"I should probably take this."
"Of course."
He walks into the hallway outside the dining room.
Through the glass, I watch him turn away from me.
He speaks quickly.
Listens.
Runs a hand through his hair.
Three minutes later, he's back at the table, reaching for his jacket.
"There's a problem with the handover. They need me at the office."
"Now?"
"I'm sorry."
He bends to kiss my forehead.
"Eat. I'll come back if I can."
Our food arrives just as he leaves. I ask for a box and pay while the server packs my meal.
Through the window, I see Daniel waiting at the valet stand.
By the time I step outside, his car is waiting at the light.
A taxi pulls up to the curb.
I get in and point.
"I need to go where that black SUV is going."
The driver looks at me in the mirror.
"Everything okay?"
"No."
He doesn't ask anything else.
Daniel never goes near his office.
He turns toward the children's hospital.
Vanessa is waiting outside the emergency entrance with the baby in her arms.
He parks, gets out, and runs to her.
I lower the taxi window a few inches and take two pictures.
In the first, he's reaching for the child.
In the second, his arm is around Vanessa.
They go inside together.
I look down at the food container in my lap.
"Where to?" the driver asks.
I give him Rachel's office address.
She's waiting downstairs when I arrive.
"I stayed after my last appointment," she says. "Come up."
In her office, I show her the video from the parking lot.
Then the hospital pictures.
She watches without speaking.
When she hands back my phone, she asks, "Are you ready to leave, or do you need help figuring that out?"
"I'm ready."
"Okay."
That one word nearly makes me cry.
No questions about whether I misunderstood.
No reminder that five years is a long time.
She gets a notepad.
"Tell me about the money."
I do.
My salary goes into my checking account. Most months, I transfer a large part of it to the savings and investment accounts Daniel manages.
He earns more than I do. He likes spreadsheets. He used to send me updates.
Somewhere along the way, I stopped asking to see them.
There's also money I had before we married.
And the small condo I bought in my twenties, which I still own and rent out.
"Start with the records you can access," Rachel says. "Statements, transfers, anything he's sent you about investments. Save copies."
I nod.
"And Natalie? You don't have to confront him before you're ready."
I put my hand over my purse.
The ultrasound picture is inside.
"There's something else."
Rachel waits.
"I'm pregnant."
Her expression softens.
"How far along?"
"About nine weeks."
"Does he know?"
I shake my head.
"I was going to surprise him."
She reaches across the desk and takes my hand.
For the first time all day, I let myself cry.
Daniel gets home at eleven.
He carries a takeout container into the kitchen.
"Brought you dinner."
"I ate."
"You'll want this."
He opens the lid.
Noodles, clumped together.
Shrimp scattered over the top.
I stare at them.
"The team ordered food," he says. "I saved you some."
"So these are leftovers."
"I saved you a portion. What's the difference?"
He finds a fork and starts separating the noodles.
"Daniel. I'm allergic to shrimp."
He pauses.
Then he pulls one off the top.
"I forgot. You can eat around them."
"No."
"They weren't cooked together."
"You don't know that."
"I asked."
I look at him.
He looks back for a second, then drops his eyes to the container.
"Just try a little. I've had a long day, Nat."
He lifts the fork toward me.
I step back.
The movement is so quick that his hand stops in midair.
I take the container and tip it into the trash.
The fork hits the bottom with a clatter.
"What the hell?"
"I said no."
"I bring you food, and this is what I get?"
"You brought me something I can't eat."
"You could have said thank you."
I close the lid of the trash can.
He watches me wipe my hands.
"I don't know what's gotten into you."
Neither do I, completely.
But I know I'm done eating what's left after he's taken care of someone else.
Daniel shakes his head and goes upstairs.
I stay in the kitchen.
Then I rest a hand against my stomach.
He doesn't know about you yet.
I'm going to get us out before he has another chance to decide what we can live without.
第3章
The next package arrives on a Thursday.
Daniel's name is on the label.
He texts me before I get home.
Something got delivered. Can you bring it inside?
I carry the box in from the porch.
The top seam has split.
Through the gap, I can see the corner of a board book.
I set it on the kitchen table and open it.
Books.
Wooden toys.
A small jacket.
None of it is for a newborn.
I photograph the contents and the packing slip.
Then I leave the box where it is.
Daniel stops when he sees it that evening.
"Oh. You opened it."
"The tape was coming off."
He picks up the jacket.
"It's for Mark's kid. He's been sitting on an approval I need."
"Your boss?"
"Yeah."
"How old is his child?"
"Around one."
I lean against the counter.
"His wife asked me about high schools at the holiday party."
Daniel folds the jacket.
"His grandson. You know what I meant."
I don't answer.
He carries the box upstairs.
A few minutes later, the smell of his dinner turns my stomach.
I barely make it to the bathroom.
Daniel appears in the bathroom doorway.
"You're sick again?"
"Apparently."
"Did you eat something?"
I rinse my mouth and grip the sink.
"I have an appointment tomorrow. Could you come with me?"
He checks his phone.
"Tomorrow's bad."
"Why?"
"Final presentation on the project."
"I thought it was finished."
"The overseas part is finished. There's still reporting."
"Right."
He looks at me in the mirror.
"Take a car. Send me the bill."
"I can drive."
"I'm trying to help."
My phone lights up on the counter.
He's transferred a hundred dollars.
"Get yourself something nice for lunch afterward."
I look at the notification.
Then at the expensive jacket visible through the box he's left outside his office.
"Thanks."
At the appointment, I watch the screen while the technician moves the probe.
There's the small shape I'm still afraid to believe in.
The flicker.
Afterward, the doctor tells me everything looks as expected.
I sit in my car for a long time with the new picture in my lap.
Then I open the resale app.
The crib listing is still there.
The seller profile uses Vanessa's first name and a photograph of a white dog.
I search the name with our city.
It takes less than ten minutes to find a public profile with the same dog.
The newest post is a birthday party.
Blue balloons.
A cake shaped like a bear.
Daniel in the shirt I ironed before his last "trip."
He's holding the baby while Vanessa stands beside him.
Our little boy is ONE. Thank you, Daddy, for making today so special.
Posted twenty minutes ago.
The final presentation.
I save the photographs.
Farther down the page, I find a picture of Vanessa outside a restaurant.
A familiar purse hangs from her shoulder.
The same color.
The same clasp.
There's a pale scratch near the corner.
I enlarge the picture until it blurs.
Then I look at the date.
Six weeks ago.
I put the phone facedown.
For a while, I can't make myself pick it up again.
When Daniel comes home, he smells of beer.
"How was the doctor?"
His eyes stay on his phone.
"Nothing urgent."
"Good. Told you."
He leans over to kiss me.
I turn away.
"I'm tired."
"Okay."
He hardly seems to notice.
"I've got emails. Don't wait up."
From the bedroom, I hear his office door close.
Later, I hear him laugh.
Then I hear a baby fussing through his speaker, followed by Daniel's soft singing.
I lie on my side with the ultrasound pictures tucked into the drawer beside me.
In the next room, my husband sings someone else's child to sleep.
