The rocking chair was there. So was the blanket Caleb had insisted on buying because he said our baby deserved one ridiculously soft thing.
My key wouldn’t turn.
“Caleb!”
No answer.
I called him, and his phone rang somewhere inside.
Dad stepped beside me.
“Do you want me to knock?”
“No. If he can hear his phone, he can hear me. He just won’t face me.”
I picked up the diaper bag.
“Let’s go.”
That night, I cried beside a sleeping Nora. I still loved Caleb, but I knew he was hiding something enormous from me.
The morning after Caleb threw us out, the doorbell rang while I was feeding Nora.
Mom started to rise.
“I’ll get it.”
“No. I need to.”
I carried Nora to the door.
Caleb and Margaret stood outside, looking exhausted.
“Please,” he said. “Let us see Nora. This is very important. If we don’t, we’re finished.”
“You saw her. Then you threw us out. Why are you here, Caleb?”
“Gwen, I need to explain.”
“You had every chance to explain. Instead, you packed my things, left them outside, and ignored me.”
Caleb dropped to his knees and caught the edge of my robe.
“You don’t understand. I should have told you long before you got pregnant.”
“Then tell me now.”
Margaret grabbed his shoulder.
“Caleb, she won’t understand…”
I looked at her.
“You left the hospital with him. You ignored my questions. So either let him speak or explain it yourself, Margaret.”
Her hand fell away.
Caleb stood slowly.
“I had a daughter before you.”
I stared at him.
“Had?”
“She’s alive…”
My hold on Nora tightened.
“How old?”
“She’s eighteen.”
“You have an 18-year-old daughter, and neither of you thought I should know?”
“Gwen…”
“Not during eight years of marriage? Not during six years of trying for a baby?”
Margaret stepped forward.
“He was very young, Gwen. He didn’t even know what decisions he was making.”
“How young?”
“I was 20,” Caleb said.
“What happened?”
“My girlfriend got pregnant. I panicked. Mom thought I wasn’t ready. I saw Alice once after she was born.”
I looked down at Nora, then at him.
“That’s what happened in the hospital.”
His eyes filled.
“You weren’t looking at Nora. You were seeing her. You were seeing the baby you abandoned.”
He nodded.
Margaret said, “We did what we thought was best.”
“We?”
“Caleb had his future ahead of him.”
“So did his daughter.”
Margaret looked away.
“What’s her name?”
Caleb hesitated.
Margaret glanced at him.
I caught it.
“What’s her name, Caleb?”
“Alice.”
My husband had a daughter named Alice.
“When was the last time you heard from her?”
“A long time ago.”
“Give me more than that, Caleb.”
His face tightened.
“Four years ago.”
Four years ago, Caleb and I were already married and already trying for a child.
“She contacted you while we were trying to have a baby?”
“Yes.”
I remembered Caleb sitting beside me after another negative test, telling me we would keep trying for as long as it took.
“What did she want?”
“To meet me.”
“And what did you do about it?”
Caleb stared at the porch.
“I didn’t answer.”
Margaret cut in.
“It would’ve complicated everything, Gwen. You know that. And you were both losing hope in conceiving. You needed to focus on that.”
“Everything for whom? If I knew there was another child involved, Margaret, everything would have changed.”
She went silent.
I looked at Caleb.
“Did Alice know you were trying to become a father again?”
His face changed.
That was enough.
“You let me grieve month after month while your daughter was asking you to meet her.”
“Gwen, please.”
“No. Why did seeing Nora make you throw us out?”
Caleb swallowed.
“Because when I saw her, I realized I’d done this before. I knew if I looked at you, I’d have to tell you everything.”
“So you punished us instead.”
He couldn’t answer.
I stepped back.
“Go. Now.”
“Gwen…”
“If you want another conversation, you come here without excuses and answer everything.”
I closed the door.
Behind me, Mom held out her arms.
I handed her Nora because my hands were shaking.
“What did he say?”
I looked at my daughter.
“He has another one.”
Mom’s face changed.
“And somehow, that’s only the beginning of this nightmare.”
Two days later, Caleb asked to meet without Margaret.
I agreed because I wanted facts.
I brought a notebook.
He noticed it immediately.
“What’s that?”
“The part where I stop relying on whatever version you decide to give me.”
“Ask me anything, Gwen. Anything.”
“What exactly did Alice say?”
“She wanted to meet me.”
“I want the message.”
His face tightened.
“I haven’t looked at it in years.”
“Did Margaret know?”
