Chapter 1: The Man in the Maternity Ward
“Girl, I need you to listen to me carefully,” Tasha whispered through the phone.
“I just saw your husband walk into St. Mary’s Hospital with a diaper bag in his hand.””
Nina Carter stopped stirring her coffee.
“My husband?”” she asked.
“Yes, Nina. Darius. Your Darius.””
Nina looked toward the kitchen window, where the morning sun spilled across the little garden she and Darius had planted three summers ago. His black SUV was supposed to be at the office. He had kissed her forehead at seven that morning, promised to be home early, and complained about an important meeting with a new client.
A diaper bag?
“Tasha, what exactly are you talking about?””
“I’m sitting in the parking lot outside the hospital. I came to visit my cousin, and I saw him get out of his truck. He wasn't alone, either. There was a woman waiting for him by the entrance.””
Nina tightened her grip on the phone.
“What woman?””
“I don't know her. But she looked like she was about to cry, and Darius was carrying flowers.””
For several seconds, Nina couldn't speak.
She and Darius had been married for six years. They had a beautiful house in a quiet neighborhood outside Atlanta, two cars, a shared savings account, and a framed wedding photograph hanging above their bedroom dresser.
They had also spent the last two years trying to have a baby.
Two years of appointments.
Two years of negative pregnancy tests.
Two years of Darius holding her in the bathroom while she cried over another month of disappointment.
And now he was at a hospital with flowers and a woman Nina had never seen.
“Tasha,” Nina said slowly, “are you sure it was him?””
“I'm looking right at his truck, girl. Unless your husband has an identical twin you've never mentioned, it's him.””
Nina ended the call without saying goodbye.
She stood in the kitchen, staring at the coffee cooling in her mug.
Then she picked up her phone and called Darius.
He answered on the fourth ring.
“Hey, baby.””
His voice sounded ordinary. Warm, even.
“Where are you?””
“At the office. What's up?””
Nina closed her eyes.
She had always believed the worst thing a husband could do was betray his wife. But in that moment, the lie itself hurt almost as much as the possibility of what he was hiding.
“Nothing,” she said.
“I just wanted to hear your voice.””
Darius chuckled.
“You sound strange. Everything okay?””
“Everything's fine. Are you busy?””
“Crazy busy. This client is giving me a headache. I might have to stay late, so don't wait up for dinner.””
Nina swallowed.
“Of course.””
“I love you, Nina.””
The words came so easily.
That was what frightened her most.
“I love you too.””
When the call ended, Nina placed the phone on the counter and stared at it as though it belonged to a stranger.
Then she went upstairs.
She changed out of her pajamas, pulled on jeans and a cream-colored sweater, and grabbed her keys. In the bedroom, she paused beside the wedding photograph.
Darius was smiling in the picture, one arm wrapped around her waist. Nina remembered the way he'd whispered in her ear during their first dance.
Whatever happens, it's you and me against the world.
She had believed him.
She still wanted to believe him.
But she couldn't ignore what Tasha had seen.
Twenty-five minutes later, Nina pulled into the hospital parking garage. She spotted Darius's black SUV on the second level, parked beneath a flickering fluorescent light.
Her heartbeat thudded in her ears.
She didn't know what she expected to find. Maybe another woman. Maybe a sick relative. Maybe an explanation so innocent that she would laugh at herself on the drive home.
She desperately wanted the last possibility.
Inside the hospital, the air smelled of disinfectant and stale coffee. A wheelchair squeaked past the reception desk. Somewhere down the corridor, a baby cried.
Nina approached the information desk.
“Excuse me,” she said to the receptionist.
“I'm looking for my husband. He may be visiting someone in maternity.””
The receptionist glanced at her.
“Do you know the patient's name?””
“No. His name is Darius Carter.””
“I'm sorry, ma'am. We can't give out private patient information.””
Nina nodded, embarrassed by the tremor in her voice.
“Of course. Thank you.””
She turned away and took out her phone.
A message from Tasha appeared.
*Maternity wing. Third floor. I just saw him go up. Nina, whatever you're about to do, please be careful.*
Nina stared at the screen.
Then she stepped into the elevator.
As the doors closed, her reflection stared back at her. She looked like a woman going to work, not a woman preparing to discover whether her marriage had been a lie.
On the third floor, she followed the signs toward the maternity ward.
She heard a nurse laughing behind a counter. A man walked past with a bundle of pink balloons. A young couple sat holding hands, looking exhausted and impossibly happy.
Nina's stomach twisted.
She had imagined moments like these for herself. Darius holding their baby. Her own mother crying over a tiny grandson or granddaughter. The three of them going home together.
She had imagined it so many times that the dream sometimes felt like a memory.
Then she saw him.
Darius stood beside a row of maternity room doors, wearing the navy-blue shirt he'd put on that morning. His jacket was draped over one arm. A bouquet of white roses rested on a nearby chair.
He was smiling.
Not the polite smile he used with clients. Not the distracted smile he gave Nina when she asked him about his day.
This smile was different.
It was tender.
He leaned over a hospital bed and gently adjusted the blanket around a newborn.
Nina stopped walking.
A young woman lay propped against the pillows. She looked exhausted, her dark hair tangled around her shoulders. A hospital bracelet circled her wrist, and a tiny baby rested against her chest.
Darius brushed a strand of hair away from the woman's face.
Then he bent down and kissed her forehead.
Nina felt the hallway tilt.
She caught the edge of a nearby counter.
“No,” she whispered.
The word barely escaped her lips.
Inside the room, the woman laughed softly.
“You don't have to keep checking on me, Darius,” she said.
“I'm not going anywhere.””
Darius smiled again.
“I told you I'd be here.””
“And you are.””
The woman looked down at the baby.
“Look at him,” she whispered.
“He's got your eyes.””
Darius's expression changed.
For one brief second, the happiness on his face gave way to something deeper. Something that looked painfully like love.
“He's perfect,” he said.
Nina couldn't breathe.
He's got your eyes.
She had heard those words in movies. She had imagined hearing them herself.
Instead, she was standing outside a hospital room, watching her husband admire another woman's newborn.
The woman reached for Darius's hand.
“Thank you for everything,” she whispered.
“I couldn't have done this without you.””
Darius squeezed her fingers.
“You never have to thank me.””
Nina's vision blurred.
Six years of marriage.
Two years of fertility treatments.
The nights she had cried in his arms while he promised they would be parents someday.
Had he been comforting her while another woman carried his child?
She took one step backward.
Her shoe squeaked against the polished floor.
Darius turned.
Their eyes met through the open doorway.
For one suspended moment, neither of them moved.
Then the color drained from his face.
“Nina?””
The woman in the bed turned toward the doorway.
Her smile disappeared.
The baby stirred against her chest.
Nina stared at her husband, waiting for him to explain himself. Waiting for him to tell her this was a misunderstanding.
Instead, Darius took a step toward her.
“Baby, what are you doing here?””
Nina let out a short, broken laugh.
“That's your first question?””
He glanced toward the bed, then back at Nina.
“Please. Let me explain.””
“Explain what, Darius? The flowers? The hospital? The fact that you told me you were at the office?””
His mouth opened, but no answer came.
The woman clutched the baby closer.
“Darius,” she whispered, “who is she?””
Nina looked at the woman.
“I'm his wife.””
The room went silent.
The young mother's lips parted. She looked from Nina to Darius, and suddenly her eyes filled with tears.
“You told me she knew,” the woman whispered.
Nina felt a cold wave move through her body.
“Knew what?””
Darius reached for Nina's arm.
She pulled away.
“Don't touch me.””
“Nina, please. Not here.””
“Then where? At home, where you can lie to my face? Or in our bedroom, where you tell me we're going to have a baby someday?””
Darius flinched.
The woman began to cry.
“Darius,” she said, her voice shaking.
“You promised me she knew everything.””
Nina looked at her husband.
“What did you promise her?””
He glanced at the baby.
Then at the woman.
Then back at Nina.
And for the first time in their six years together, Nina saw genuine fear in his eyes.
Not fear of losing his temper.
Not fear of being embarrassed.
Fear of what she was about to discover.
“Nina,” he said quietly, “there's something about this baby you need to understand.””
Before he could continue, the woman suddenly reached for the bedside table. Her fingers trembled as she pulled out a folded document.
She looked directly at Nina.
“My name is Lauren,” she whispered.
“And before you leave this hospital, you need to know why your husband was in the delivery room when my son was born.””
Nina stared at the document in Lauren's hand.
Then Lauren unfolded it.
The first thing Nina saw was Darius's signature.
The second was her own name.
May you like
And beneath it, in bold black letters, were the words:
*INTENDED PARENT AGREEMENT.*
