Pregnant wife receives a call from a cop: “your husband is in the hospital. We found him with a woman.” When she arrived, the doctor said: “madam, what you are about to see may shock you.” He opened the curtain—she fell to her knees at the sight. The doctor whispered: “there is something else you need to know.”

“Talk?” David stepped closer. “Get out of my sight. Both of you.”

He turned to Jessica. “Get your things. I don’t want you in my house tonight.”

“But the baby…” she wailed.

“We’ll see about the baby,” he said coldly. Then he turned and walked out. He passed me without a word, but his shoulder brushed mine, a fleeting contact of shared misery.

I looked at the two of them. The wreckage.

I walked up to Michael’s bed.

“Laura, please,” he begged. “I can explain.”

“Explain what?” I asked calmly. “That you cheated on me? Or that you did it with the neighbor who pretended to be my friend? Or maybe explain how you did this while I am carrying your son?”

I looked at Jessica. She shrank away.

“You destroyed our family,” I said. “And for what? For a lie.”

I turned and walked out. I didn’t stop until the cold Seattle air hit my face.

I sat on a bench outside, shivering. I wouldn’t cry. Not here. I had a son to protect.