Chapter 3

Warm yellow light filled the auditorium at Saint Oak Elementary.

I parked across the street and watched through the windshield as Callum stood at the bottom of the steps.

He was not wearing the coat he claimed he needed for work, and his tie had been loosened.

Noah ran through the doors and threw himself into Callum's arms.

"Daddy!"

Callum caught him without hesitation and spun him in a circle.

The face that always looked exhausted when he turned toward me broke into a smile I had not seen in years.

Tessa came out behind him.

She straightened Callum's collar, then pinned the red heart-shaped brooch to her own dress. The gesture was so natural that it looked practiced.

The three of them walked into the auditorium together.

I followed a group of parents through a side door that had not fully closed.

The walls were covered with family trees drawn by the children.

On Noah's, the space marked Father said Callum. The space marked Mother said Tessa.

A photograph from the previous year was attached at the top.

Callum sat on the grass with Noah on his shoulders and Tessa pressed against his side. Beneath the photograph were the words:

"My Family."

He had not simply driven the boy to school for 180 days.

He had already placed himself inside another family.

Music began to play in the auditorium. When the teacher invited the fathers onto the stage, Noah took Callum's hand and pulled him forward.

I hid around the corner of the hallway and heard Tessa speak under her breath.

"He is five years old. How much longer are you going to make your own son call you Uncle Callum in public?"

Callum glanced around.

"Keep your voice down."

"I am tired of hiding. By next semester, every child in his class is going to know you are his father."

"I will handle it."

"When?"

Callum was silent for several seconds.

"When Maren stops obsessing over getting pregnant. She is already unstable because of everything that happened. I cannot use Noah to upset her even more."

I leaned against the cold wall and slowly pressed a hand to my stomach.

He had not hidden the truth because he felt guilty.

He had turned six years of deception into something he called protecting me.

Tessa gave a bitter laugh.

"You always say we should wait. What if she can never have a baby?"

Callum did not answer.

My phone rang at that exact moment.

It was Callum.

At the other end of the auditorium, he walked to a window and turned his back to me as he answered.

"Maren, things still are not settled at the office."

I could hear his real voice across the room and the same voice through my phone.

"I may not make it home tonight. Do not wait for me."

Onstage, Noah waved at him with a mug that said "World's Best Dad."

"All right," I said.

Callum seemed surprised by how calm I sounded.

"Did something happen?"

I looked down at the ultrasound image inside my bag.

"No."

I ended the call and walked out of the school.

From my car, I called a divorce attorney.

"I want to end my seven-year marriage."

The attorney asked if I was certain.

In the rearview mirror, I watched Callum leave the auditorium holding Noah's hand while Tessa clung to his arm.

"I am."

I had planned to tell him that night that we were finally having a baby.

Now I would let him learn about this child only after he had lost his wife.