Ellie looked surprised but smiled anyway.
“Sure,” she said, brushing a strand of blonde hair behind her ear. “Everything okay?”
I forced another smile.
“Just… help me grab something from the kitchen.”
She followed me through the sliding glass door while laughter and music continued behind us. My heart pounded so violently I thought she might hear it.
The moment the door closed behind us, I turned to face her.
“What happened to your stomach?”
Her smile disappeared.
“What?”
“My son keeps saying, ‘Dad’s there.’ He was pointing at your belly.”
Ellie instinctively folded her arms across the loose floral sundress she was wearing.
“It’s nothing.”
“It isn’t nothing.”
I stepped closer.
“You’ve always been tiny, Ellie. Today you’re wearing a dress three sizes too big, and now my four-year-old insists my husband is… inside you.”
The words sounded absurd even as I said them.
She laughed nervously.
“Oh, come on, kids say weird things.”
“They do.”
I nodded.
“But they usually don’t repeat themselves four times.”
Silence.
I watched her eyes dart toward the backyard.
Toward the guests.
Toward my husband.
Toward the escape.
Then back to me.
“You’re overthinking this.”
“I hope I am.”
I truly did.
Because the alternative would destroy everything.
Ellie reached for the refrigerator.
“Can I have some water?”
Her hands were shaking.
That frightened me more than anything.
She had never been nervous around me.
Not once in twenty-eight years.
Not when we skipped school together.
Not when she stood beside me as my maid of honor.
Not when she held my hand during thirty hours of labor while my husband almost missed Will’s birth because of a delayed flight.
Ellie had always been the calm one.
Today she looked terrified.
I handed her a glass.
Instead of drinking, she gripped it so tightly her knuckles turned white.
“You’re scaring me,” I whispered.
Her lips parted.
Then closed again.
“What aren’t you telling me?”
Before she could answer, the patio door slid open.
“There you two are!”
My husband, Daniel.
Still smiling.
Still carrying a beer.
“There’s the birthday girl—well, birthday guy,” he joked, laughing at himself. “Everyone’s asking where my favorite women disappeared to.”
His eyes landed on Ellie.
For the briefest second…
Something changed.
Not enough for anyone else to notice.
Enough for me.
A flash of panic.
Gone almost instantly.
“You okay?” he asked her.
“I… yes.”
She couldn’t even look at him.
Daniel wrapped an arm around my waist.
“You ready for cake?”
I looked from his face…
To hers…
Then back again.
Something invisible stretched between them.
Not touching.
Not speaking.
But undeniably there.
“I’ll be right out,” I said.
Daniel kissed my forehead.
“Don’t take too long.”
As soon as he left, I turned back to Ellie.
“Tell me.”
She burst into tears.
Not loud.
Not dramatic.
Just silent tears rolling down her cheeks.
“Oh God…”
My own voice cracked.
“No…”
She covered her face.
“I never wanted you to find out like this.”
The room spun.
Find out what?
Find out about what?
My knees suddenly felt weak.
“Ellie…”
She slid down onto one of the kitchen chairs.
“I tried to tell him we couldn’t keep pretending.”
My ears started ringing.
“Him?”
She nodded.
“Daniel.”
The name felt like a knife.
I stared at her.
“No.”
“I’m sorry.”
“No.”
“It wasn’t supposed—”
“Don’t.”
I backed away from her.
“Don’t say another word.”
Because if she said it…
It would become real.
And I wasn’t ready for my life to become real.
Outside, everyone started singing.
Happy Birthday.
The voices floated through the glass.
Happy birthday to you…
My husband was laughing.
People were clapping.
Will’s tiny voice sang louder than everyone else.
Inside my kitchen…
Everything was dying.
I looked at Ellie again.
“How long?”
She hesitated.
“Eight months.”
The air left my lungs.
Eight.
Months.
Nearly an entire year.
My mind immediately started assembling memories I had never questioned before.
The “business trips.”
The weekends Daniel volunteered to help Ellie move apartments.
The nights he came home smelling like the lavender perfume she always wore.
The time Ellie canceled our girls’ vacation because she claimed she had food poisoning.
The Christmas party where I caught them talking quietly in the garage.
Every moment I had trusted without hesitation suddenly returned wearing a different face.
“How could you?”
I whispered.
She sobbed harder.
“I loved him.”
“You loved my husband.”
“I didn’t mean to.”
“You don’t accidentally sleep with someone’s husband for eight months.”
She covered her mouth.
“I know.”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“You don’t know.”
My entire body trembled.
“You watched me celebrate anniversaries.”
She cried.
“You helped me wrap his Christmas presents.”
More tears.
“You tucked my son into bed.”
“I know…”
“You stood beside me while I planned this birthday party.”
“I wanted to tell you.”
“When?”
“After today.”
I laughed.
It sounded broken.
“How thoughtful.”
She looked down.
“I found out I was pregnant three months ago.”
The sentence hit me harder than everything before it.
Pregnant.
I stared at her stomach.
Not fat.
Not bloated.
Pregnant.
And suddenly…
Will’s innocent words echoed inside my head.
“Dad’s there.”
He hadn’t meant Daniel was standing beside Ellie.
He meant…
Daddy was inside Aunt Ellie.
The baby.
My husband’s baby.
My son had noticed her growing belly before I had.
Children understood far more than adults gave them credit for.
Tears blurred my vision.
“You were going to tell me after his birthday?”
She nodded weakly.
“He wanted one last normal day.”
My hands curled into fists.
“He?”
She whispered,
“Daniel.”
The name no longer sounded like my husband’s.
It sounded like a stranger’s.
A man I had never truly known.
Before I could answer, my phone buzzed in my pocket.
A text message.
Unknown number.
I almost ignored it.
Then I saw the preview.
DON’T BELIEVE EVERYTHING ELLIE TELLS YOU. DANIEL ISN’T THE ONLY MAN WHO’S BEEN LYING. CHECK THE ENVELOPE HIDDEN INSIDE YOUR HUSBAND’S TOOLBOX BEFORE ANYONE LEAVES THE PARTY.
I looked up from the screen.
Ellie had gone completely pale.
“You got it too… didn’t you?”
My heart stopped.
“You know who sent this?”
She slowly nodded.
And for the first time that afternoon…
I realized the affair wasn’t the biggest secret waiting for me in my own house.
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