I closed the laptop.
Then I went upstairs and lay beside my sleeping husband.
For a moment, I wondered whether I should wake him and demand answers.
Instead, I remembered Gloria’s advice.
Get
your information first.
Two evenings later, I told Elon I’d confirmed my return to work.
He was sitting on the couch, scrolling through his phone.
“I spoke to Renee,” I said. “I’m going back on the fifteenth.”
He looked up sharply.
“You already decided?”
“Yes.”
“I thought we were still discussing it.”
“We did discuss it. I listened to you, and then I made a decision.”
His expression tightened.
“What about Sophie?”
“I’ve found a daycare near my office. Little Sprouts. They have space in the infant room.”
“You went to see it without me?”
“You were working.”
He stood up.
“Why are you suddenly making everything so difficult?”
I looked at him.
“Difficult for whom?”
He stopped.
For a long moment, neither of us spoke.
Then he said something revealing.
“If something ever happened between us, you’d probably want to stay home with Sophie anyway.”
I felt my stomach
tighten.
“What do you mean, something happening between us?”
He looked startled.
“Nothing. I was speaking hypothetically.”
“Have you been thinking about separating?”
He laughed awkwardly.
“Everybody thinks about these things sometimes.”
I watched him.
He avoided my eyes.
And I knew he was already imagining a future he hadn’t bothered to tell me about.
That Sunday was our seventh wedding anniversary.
Before the phone call, I’d made romantic plans.
A babysitter.
Dinner at Lucia’s, the Italian restaurant where Elon proposed.
A dark green dress I’d purchased especially for the evening.
I had wanted one night to feel like myself again.
Instead, I canceled the restaurant.
Canceled the babysitter.
And invited both sets of parents to dinner at our house.
My mother sounded surprised.
“Isn’t Sunday your anniversary?”
“Yes.”
“Wouldn’t you rather spend it alone together?”
“I’d like everyone there, Mom.”
She hesitated.
Then said,
“All right, sweetheart.”
I called
Eve next.
She was delighted.
“An anniversary dinner with the whole family? That sounds wonderful!”
She promised to bring dessert.
When I told Elon, he seemed confused.
“I thought we had reservations at Lucia’s.”
“I changed the plans.”
“Why?”
“I thought it would be nice to celebrate with the family.”
He studied my face.
