Deborah had just finished dinner and looked out the window, waiting for her husband to come home. He had been late a few days that week, and it wasn’t like him. She didn’t want to be that wife who suspected her husband of cheating, but she had the doubt.
«He won’t cheat on me. He’s not capable of doing. Everything is fine!» she thought.
Unfortunately, several of her friends had recently gone through infidelity situations, so she was very suspicious. She breathed a sigh of relief when her husband’s car pulled into the driveway.
«Honey, I’m home,» Robert shouted when he opened the door, and Deborah smiled, but noticed that his white shirt, usually neatly pressed, was wrinkled. Suspicions arose again.
«Hey, dear. Why are you late?» asked Deborah, trying to sound casual, but not quite succeeding.
«Am I late?» asked Robert, frowning and raising his arm to look at his watch. «Oh, I must have lost track of time at the office, honey. Sorry.»
«Oh, that’s okay,» Deborah said, biting her lower lip and not content with that vague answer. But she let it go. «Let me take your jacket.»
«Thanks. Could you put it in the laundry? I’m going to start wearing the brown one. It’s getting colder now,» Robert said and went to his room while Deborah headed for the laundry room.
She immediately rummaged through her husband’s jacket pockets, desperate to find something to prove her innocence or reveal that she wasn’t wrong to be paranoid.
Surprisingly, some receipts appeared: one from a store where Robert bought diapers and baby formula and the other from a toy store where he bought some kind of jumping game for a baby or toddler. It was expensive, and her eyes widened like saucers.
«Oh my God, he’s not just cheating on me. He started another family,» she whispered and wanted to burst into tears right there in the laundry room, but Robert started calling her. She decided about pretending as if nothing had happened.
«But wait a minute. Why should I not act and ignore everything?» wondered Deborah.
Suddenly, instead of wanting to cry, she flew into a rage and ran out of the laundry room with the receipts.
«Robert, what the hell is this?» she asked, wild-eyed and mad. Her hand was raised with pieces of white paper in her hand.
«What?» said Robert, confused and frowning. «Did you check my jacket?».
«Don’t change the subject! Why are you buying baby stuff when we don’t have kids?» she demanded, getting angrier and angrier.
That madness was coming from a deep place where she felt terrible because she still couldn’t get pregnant.
She had tried to be patient and hope for the best, but they had been married for years and nothing. It seemed Robert didn’t care and he went out and started a new family behind her back.
«I bought it for a co-worker. He was busy and asked me to stop by the store and do that. That’s why I was late today,» he explained, crossing his arms.
«Why did you lie to me before, then?» asked Deborah, lowering her voice. She didn’t believe him, but her anger wouldn’t make him any more honest.
«I don’t know. Maybe because I know you’re sensitive to baby stuff,» he said, shrugging.
Deborah straightened at that comment and looked down.
«I…well…,» she stammered.
«Honey, don’t. Please don’t cry. I didn’t mean anything by it. It’s just that, yes, you’re sensitive because we haven’t gotten pregnant yet, and I didn’t want to hurt you,» Robert said and moved closer to her, wrapping his arms around her.
Deborah let her husband hug her and completely forgot about that situation. Maybe, he is not being unfaithful. Maybe, he doesn’t have a hidden family… my husband loves me, she thought repeatedly in his arms.
The next day, Deborah received a call, while she was doing housework.
«Hey, Deb,» said her friend, Darla, when Deborah answered the phone.
«Hey, girlfriend, what’s up?»
«I was wondering. You know we have a new neighbor, right? She’s down the block and I’m going to introduce her to my boss tonight because she needs the job. But she has a newborn and we can’t find a babysitter tonight, can you do it? It’s after work because my boss didn’t have time to meet with her before,» Darla asked.
«Oh, right. Of course. But will your friend be okay leaving her baby with a stranger?» asked Deborah, confused.
«Yes. She trusts me,» Darla assured her and gave her the house number.
That night, Deborah showed up at the house and met Darla and her friend, Mia, who was delightful.
«Thank you for doing this for a stranger,» the young woman said. «I don’t have anyone to help me.»
«Of course. I love babies and babysat all through my teens,» she smiled and her friends left.
Baby-sitting was a pleasure and Deborah was eager to get pregnant soon. She started thinking about undergoing IVF while she nursed the baby and put him to sleep.
Mia’s house had only one room and the crib was right next to the bed, so she put the baby to sleep and was about to retire, but something caught her eye. It was a picture on the bedside table. To her absolute horror, Robert was in the picture in the frame. A young Robert with his arm around Mia. There were other people in the picture, but Deborah couldn’t focus on anything else.
She snapped a picture of the portrait with her phone and tried to contain herself, waiting for Darla and Mia to return. When they did, she rushed out, discarding her plans to grab a coffee and chat. She didn’t have time for that. Her marriage was over.
Robert came home later than ever. This time, a big meeting at work had gone on long enough, but he hoped Deborah understood and still believed his story.
However, he opened the door and it was as if a hurricane blew through his house.
«Deborah! Deborah!» he called, but no one answered.
He went to his bedroom and found that his wife was gone.
Robert spent the next few hours trying to reach Deborah. He had been calling her parents, but they hung up on him many times until they finally blocked him. He couldn’t call her at work. It was late and he feared getting her in trouble. Nevertheless, he drove around, trying to find her at her market or the local coffee shop. But he had no luck.
When he got home, he saw Darla taking out the trash.
«Darla! Darla! Have you seen Deborah? I can’t find her and she’s not answering. I’m really worried,» Robert asked, and the desperation in his voice made Darla frown.
«Well, yes. She babysat our new neighbor’s baby, Mia, but then she ran out and she hasn’t answered my texts either,» Darla said, wrapping her jacket around her and moving closer.
Robert was distressed and surprised by what Darla was saying. His eyes roamed the entire street as his brain put the pieces together.
«Do you know Mia?» asked Darla, cocking her head suspiciously.
But Robert quickly walked away, ignoring her, and returned home to try to communicate with his wife again.
Days later, Robert was able to see his wife….
«Let’s get this over with quickly,» Deborah began in a sensible tone when Robert was finally allowed to go to his in-laws’ house to talk. «I’ve already talked to a lawyer and…».
«Mia’s baby is not mine!» interrupted Robert, almost shouting. He knew Deborah wouldn’t let him speak if he didn’t raise his voice.
The day after his conversation with Darla, Robert visited Mia. She had no idea who Deborah was, as she had been overseas for a long time and only recently returned to raise her baby in the city where she grew up.
She and Robert were friends in high school and remained friends through college, but lost touch when she went to Europe. However, when she returned with a newborn, he decided to help her with the baby and some expenses.
The problem was that he was afraid to tell Deborah. He had lied to her a few times about his late nights and why he was buying baby stuff. But he hadn’t lied to her about his sensitivity about babies. He knew she was embarrassed about not being able to have children, although Robert never said anything. He didn’t care if she never got pregnant or they had children.
But he knew his wife berated herself for it. She loved babies. She dreamed of being a mom. And also, he had dated Mia for a while in high school and thought it would be better if Deborah didn’t know much about each other or Robert was helping the new mom. Now he realized that had been kind of stupid.
He rushed through this explanation and Deborah’s face went from angry, confused, indignant, disgusted, exasperated, and finally to frustrated.
«You’re not stupid. You’re an idiot, Robert! Why on earth would you lie about that? And if you’ve been lying so much, why should I believe you now?» he yelled.
«Let’s meet Mia. Please, I’ll tell you everything. She doesn’t even know you’re my wife,» Robert suggested, and Deborah agreed. Despite her anger, she didn’t want a divorce.
Mia confirmed everything and also called Robert an idiot.
«I got stupidly pregnant in Europe, and I guess I just wanted to come home to raise my baby. I left because my parents died and I had nothing. But I still have some friends left. I didn’t know Robert was helping me on the sly from you. I’m so sorry,» Mia added to the explanation.
And Deborah believed her. She was nice. She looked at the picture again and realized that there were other young people there. So, it wasn’t romantic at all. She had made it worse in her head because Robert had been lying and was late home from work.
Therefore, he forgave Robert.
«But this is the last time. I don’t want any more lies. Not one. Not even the smallest things. I want the 100% truth, or I’m gone forever,» she told her husband, who agreed all of it.
Deborah returned their things home and, a few months later, they were finally pregnant. Robert had to work for years for Deborah’s trust, which is the easiest thing to lose.
