The nurse, Tara, paused. “Early scans can estimate gestational age, yes. Is everything okay?”
I looked at our wedding photo. I’d thought Lucas was safe.
“No,” I said. “But I need facts.”
“I’ll schedule you in. You’ll get a text with the confirmed date and time, Maddie,” Tara said.
I’d thought Lucas was safe.
***
That week, my life shrank fast.
At work, Claire, the principal, closed her office door and rubbed her forehead.
“Maddie, I don’t want to get involved.”
“Then don’t.”
“Lucas’s mother called my sister. People are already talking.”
“But I haven’t done anything wrong.”
“I believe you,” Claire said too quickly. “But parents are already whispering, Maddie. I hate it, but it’s becoming a distraction.”
“Maddie, I don’t want to get involved.”
“So I’m being punished for a rumor?”
“Maddie, I know. Just give things room to settle. Take a few days.”
“Am I being fired?”
“No. Just have some breathing room. Plan for your baby.”
Breathing room meant unpaid days and pitying looks.
***
That afternoon, the landlord for the house on Briar Lane called me.
Lucas and I had been trying to view it for weeks. All I could think about was a dry nursery with morning light.
“I’m being punished for a rumor?”
“Maddie?” the landlord said. “I’m sorry, ma’am, but I’m canceling tomorrow’s showing.”
My hand tightened around the phone. “Did someone already take it?”
“No. Your husband called. He said there’s some instability right now.”
I closed my eyes. “He said that?”
“He said you two were separating and that you might not be in a position to move.”
I swallowed hard. “I was the one who found that house.”
“I understand,” he said. “But I don’t want to step into a domestic situation.”
“Did someone already take it?”
After he hung up, I stood in the hallway of our damp little rental and stared at the room I’d already imagined as a nursery.
Lucas hadn’t only left me. He was blocking every door I tried to open.
***
On the sixth day, Charlotte posted a photo.
Lucas sat across from her at a rooftop restaurant. Her caption read:”Peace looks different after the truth.”
I stared until my screen dimmed.
Then I wiped my face and started planning.
I stared until my screen dimmed.
***
I saved Lucas’s texts, Sandra’s message, and Charlotte’s post. I printed the appointment confirmation and put everything in a folder.
Then I texted Lucas:
“Come to the ultrasound tomorrow. Bring whoever you need. I want the facts said in front of everyone.”
He replied three minutes later.
“Fine. I want to discuss divorce anyway.”
“Come to the ultrasound tomorrow.”
