“Ethan. Don’t you think you’re visiting Claire a little too much?”
He blinked. “What are you implying?”
“I’m not implying anything. It just feels… strange.”
He laughed. “Sweetheart, she’s carrying our baby. I just want her to have a smooth pregnancy.”
I nodded. I smiled. I let it go. But I didn’t stop feeling uneasy about how much private time my husband was spending with our surrogate.
“I’m not implying anything. It just feels… strange.”
***
The next day, I decided to do something crazy.
I slipped a small voice recorder into the inside pocket of Ethan’s jacket right before he left to see Claire.
My hands were shaking.
I stood in the hallway holding his jacket and thought, Why am I even doing this?
I almost took it back out, but the feeling in my gut was louder than the guilt, so I left it.
That evening, Ethan came home from Claire’s and hung up his jacket like usual. He kissed me goodnight and went to bed.
I decided to do something crazy.
I waited until the house was quiet. Then I took the recorder from his jacket pocket, walked to the bathroom, locked the door, and sat down on the cold tile floor.
I pressed play.
First, I heard the sound of a door opening, then Claire’s voice, warm and familiar.
“Oh, good, you made it.”
Then Ethan. “I brought the vitamins you wanted.”
I pressed play.
I let out a breath.
Maybe I’d been paranoid. Maybe that was all it was. Maybe I was losing my mind.
Then Claire said something that made my whole body tense.
“Are you sure your wife is okay with all this?”
